Chronicles of Sheena’s Pregnancy
by J.G. The Gamer
Summary: Lloyd has returned to Dirk's house to live the rest of his life. Kratos and Sheena are in tow. Now Sheena is pregnant with Lloyd's child. How will Lloyd handle this? Sheena is now 7 and a half months pregnant now. STORY MAY BE AXED PENDING CONSIDERATION
1. Prologue: A shocking discovery

Well, here goes! This is my first more-than-2-chapter-fanfic for Tales of Symphonia.

Disclaimer: **I don't own Tales of Symphonia**.

A/N: This fanfic is a Sheloyd. Get used to it. This story happened with the game's circumstances being manipulated by me.

Zelos never betrayed the party.

Kratos still helped the gang beat Mithos.

Sheena and Lloyd have confessed their love for each other.

Sheena, Lloyd, and Kratos all live at Dirk's house now.

Yuan/Renegades destroyed all Exspheres, however, Lloyd is still having difficulty letting go of his.

Raine and Genis have Presea and Zelos tag along with them on their journey to end half-elf discrimination.

And that's all for that. On with the story!

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It had only been two days since Lloyd and his friends defeated Mithos Yggdrasill. Before they left to fight Mithos, they had camped at Dirk's for the night. During that time, Kratos, Lloyd's birth father had told Lloyd's adoptive father, Dirk to build an extension on the house for Sheena and himself. For as Sheena and Lloyd were in love and Kratos wanted to spend some time with his son as he has not had the chance to for 14 years.

However, Lloyd and Kratos had gone out for some training. Sheena, for some reason was sick and was bedridden. Lloyd was worried at first, but Kratos assured him Sheena would be okay. Dirk sent for a doctor from Iselia.

Lloyd and Kratos walked out to an empty plain. Lloyd was confused to as why he was called out here.

"Dad. Why are we out here?"

"Because Lloyd, I want to make sure you know how to use your angelic powers," said Kratos. "You are powerful, but there could always be someone who could be stronger. If you can call on your angelic powers, you will have the power necessary to defeat them."

"So, what's the easiest way to do it?" Lloyd asked.

"Just listen to the power that flows through you, and just bring it out."

Lloyd began to concentrate. A rainbow coloured glow began to surround him. After a few seconds, his large rainbow wings came out.

"Okay Dad, I did it!" said an excited Lloyd. "Can we go home now?"

Kratos sighed. "No not yet. I must teach you the angelic spell Judgment. Once you learn that attack, even your darkest foes will not stand a chance against you."

"Okay. Bring it on. I can do this!"

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Dirk's house

Sheena was still fairly ill. But Dirk had a feeling it would pass. So he went to Iselia to get a doctor. He decided to walk, as Noishe would guard the house until Lloyd and Kratos got back from their necessary training.

He pondered about the discussion he and Kratos had before they left for the final battle. He wanted Dirk to build an extension on the house so he could live with his son that he hadn't spent any time with for the past 14 years.

After about 30 minutes of walking, he made it Iselia. Dirk was well known here as he had helped build most of the buildings here and had played a large role in reconstruction as well.

He found the doctor rather quickly. To convince the doctor that he was needed quickly, he paid him in advance. The doctor was more than happy to be paid in advance. He rushed out the door quicker than Dirk did.

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"Whew. That's a little harder than I thought," said Lloyd panting.

"Hmm. At least you're not complaining of boredom," replied Kratos. "Well I think that will do for today. Let's go now, Dirk and Sheena are waiting for us."

As Lloyd and Kratos were walking home, Lloyd still couldn't wrap his head around why Sheena was sick. "Say Dad. Why do you think Sheena got sick right after we beat Mithos?"

"I'm not sure. Dirk said he would send for a doctor, so we shouldn't worry about it. She's in good hands. And if worse comes to worse, I can fly around to find Raine so she can heal Sheena."

This reassurance brought a smile to Lloyd's face. "Good. All our bases are covered."

"I guess you can put it that way."

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"Are you sure?" asked Dirk.

"Yes I'm definitely sure," replied the doctor. "She's showing all the symptoms of it. So there is nothing to be worried about, for the time being at least."

"I see," said Dirk. "Thank you for your help."

As soon as he was sure the doctor was out of earshot, Dirk shouted.

"LLOYD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

And there you have the prologue for this fanfic. The next chapters will be longer I promise. Until then, be cool!


	2. New Responsibilities

Okay I'm off to a roaring start! Well, I bet some of you figured out what is wrong with Sheena. If you still can't figure it out, this chapter will spell it out for you. If you have figured it out, kudos to you. Now on with the story!

Lloyd and Kratos had finally made it home. On the way, they talked about all sorts of things. They talked about great warriors during the Kharlan War, some of Kratos' exploits before he met Mithos, Yuan, and Martel. They talked about what Lloyd wanted to do when he got older. It seemed like it couldn't get any better. Lloyd had finally found his father after 14 years; he had a beautiful girlfriend, a nice place to live. What could possibly turn his life upside down?

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"Lloyd! I know you have done things that I have thought were totally reckless and dangerous, but this one takes the cake!" To Lloyd's confusion, Dirk was roaring mad.

"Dad! What did I do?" asked Lloyd.

'Uh oh,' thought Kratos. 'I think I know what happened. And I got a feeling there will be a new addition to the family in about 9 months.'

"Lloyd, I don't when it happened," replied Dirk. "But thanks to you, the young lass upstairs is now expecting a baby!"

"OH SHIT!" said Lloyd in shock. "But hey, I'll be a daddy soon."

Dirk was still angry. "I don't think you truly understand the scope of what you've done!" He stormed off outside, and started cutting wood to burn off some steam.

Now Kratos was alone with his son. Lloyd felt down, after being yelled at by Dirk. He knew yelling at his son wouldn't help any, but he decided that he'd better make sure Lloyd understood what he had done and what the consequences would be.

"Lloyd."

Lloyd had his head bowed down. "Yeah dad. Do you want to yell at me too?"

"No," replied Kratos. "When did it happen?"

Lloyd wanted to try and hide most of the details of what happened, but there were two things that stopped him. The first was Dwarven Vow #11. The second was that he figured he wasn't smart enough to try and fool his father.

He sighed and began the story. "You remember the night we spent here before we went to fight Mithos?"

A/N: In this story, no one was captured by Mithos in the Torrent Forest. His lifeless body in the Tower of Salvation somehow came back, and acted on Mithos' thoughts, and made all hell break loose. So I could disregard the quick movements to save a friend.

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Flashback - Dirk's House

It was about four o'clock in the morning. Lloyd just couldn't sleep, no matter how hard he tried. So, deciding not to fight it anymore, he got up. The girls were sleeping upstairs, so he could easily sneak outside to get some air, and have a little time to do something without waking anyone up.

After some quick thinking, he decided to take a swim down by his secret lagoon that only he knew about. He changed into his blue and orange bathing suit, got out a towel, and headed off to his secret retreat.

At around the same time, Sheena had woken up. She had a lot of difficulty sleeping. Especially with the upcoming battle with Mithos looming ahead. With her ninja senses, she heard someone walking away from the house. With a quick peek outside the window, she saw Lloyd, clad in a bathing suit and with a red towel over his shoulder.

'He must know of a swimming hole somewhere around here,' she thought to herself. 'And I bet he wouldn't mind some company.' She quickly changed into her somewhat revealing bathing suit, borrowed a towel, and went after Lloyd.

After fifteen minutes of walking, Lloyd found his secret swimming hole. Without hesitation, he dropped his towel and took jumped into the air and did a cannonball!

"WOOHOO!" SPLASH!

Lloyd loved the feeling of cold water first thing in the morning. Except when it was being used to wake him up. Ten seconds later, he swam to the surface. To his surprise, he saw Sheena there, in her bathing suit, waiting for him.

Lloyd was surprised that Sheena found this place. "Hey Sheena. How'd you find this place?"

"I followed you silly," replied Sheena. "I saw you leaving in your bathing suit and it was obvious that you were leaving for some early morning swimming!"

"Well hop in!"

"Nah," she said taking a seat by the edge of the water. "I'll give myself some time to get used to it."

Lloyd submerged back under the water again. Sheena was still sort of waking up to the not-risen-yet sun, which could still be seen despite the size of Derris Kharlan floating in the air above them. Suddenly, Lloyd emerged from the water right in front of her and pulled her in.

"Yaah!"

The water was cold and it almost gave her a heart attack. She quickly recovered and swam back to the surface to see Lloyd laughing at his scheme that he just pulled.

"Hahahaha! You should have seen your face when…"

Lloyd was suddenly interrupted by Sheena dunking his head underwater. He came up spitting out water.

Now it was Sheena's turn to laugh. "Hahaha! That's what you get for pulling me in!"

So the two decided to just swim. After a while, they played water tag. With Lloyd pretending to be a shark trying to catch Sheena. But even in the water, Sheena still had more agility. They had forgotten for the moment about what lay ahead and just focused on swimming. After an hour, the bathing suit clad pair, just laid down on their towels, letting the just rising sun dry their bodies.

As they laid on their respective towels, Sheena decided to speak first. "So this will be it. The final battle."

"Yeah," replied Lloyd. "Everyone is counting on us."

"I'm glad we confessed our love to each other when we did."

Lloyd was a tad confused by her last statement. "What makes you say that?"

There was a bit of fear in the summoner's voice. "I say that because what if we don't make it back alive?"

Lloyd tried his best to reassure her. "Don't worry. You will make it back alive. We all will."

"Honestly Lloyd, I'm scared. I finally found someone I love. I don't want to lose you."

"Sheena, I promise you, we will live to see the regenerated world. All of us!"

Listening to Lloyd give her confidence made her feel so much better. He had always been there when she needed help. Like when she was injured and they helped her. Or when she was too frightened to make the pact with Volt. Also, there was the incident with Kuchinawa. He was the one who tended to her injuries after she was able to defeat him. And he had pulled through again here.

"I love you Lloyd."

"I love you too Sheena."

Sheena got up off her towel, laid down on top of Lloyd and planted on him a powerful kiss, one that told Lloyd exactly how she was feeling. A feeling of love, security and trust.

Lloyd wrapped his arms around his lover and began to kiss her back. He would give a gentle squeeze every now and then, which made her moan in her state of bliss. To Sheena's shock, Lloyd placed his hands on her butt. She broke off the kiss with a grin on her face.

"Heh, so that's how you want to play eh?" she said with a devilish smile on her face.

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Present Time

"And one thing led to another. We got ourselves cleaned up and came back." Lloyd had just finished telling the story.

"I see," said Kratos. "So she played just as equal a role in this incident."

"Yeah, you could say that."

Kratos spoke up once more. "Lloyd. Do you know what's going to happen?"

Lloyd shot his head up. "Yeah. Sheena's going to have a baby in nine months. And I have to take responsibility as a father and do my part."

Kratos was impressed. "Good. Just remember, you can't get bored of this like you do everything else. This child will be something that both Sheena AND you have to play an equal part in raising it from beginning to end. Do you understand?"

Lloyd's face beamed up with the new responsibility placed in his hands. "You got it! I won't let you down! And I especially won't let Sheena down either!"

"Good, now go see her."

"Okay Dad," said Lloyd on his way up the stairs. "Say Dad. I just remembered something."

"What is that?" asked Kratos.

"You're gonna be a grandfather soon!"

"LLOYD!"

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Lloyd went to his and Sheena's room. There he saw the beautiful summoner he loved lying in bed. Most of her colour had returned to her face by now.

"Hey Lloyd," she managed to say.

"Hey there." He took a seat on the side of the bed. "Quite the predicament we got ourselves into huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that," she replied.

Lloyd bowed his head down in sorrow. "I'm sorry this happened Sheena. It's all my fault this happened."

"Don't feel bad Lloyd. It wasn't just your fault. I have to take just as much blame for this as you do. It takes a man and a woman to create a baby. We're going to have a child in nine months, and you will be a father, and I will be the mother of our child."

"You're right. It'll be both our responsibility to raise this child as if our lives depend on it!"

"That's the Lloyd I know and love," said Sheena sitting up. "I know Dirk didn't take my sudden pregnancy well. How about Kratos?"

"Kratos took it rather well," said Lloyd. "He just wanted to make sure I knew what I had done and the responsibilities that are sure to follow. However, the fact he didn't take well was that he was going to be a grandfather."

This brought a laugh from Sheena. Lloyd just loved seeing her smile. It could brighten up anyone's day.

They could both hear Lloyd's stomach growl. "Heh heh."

"Yup. You're gonna be okay Lloyd," said Sheena getting out of bed.

"Hey Sheena. Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I'll be fine," she replied. "We need to get you something to eat or I'll be listening to your stomach all night!"

The two lovers went downstairs to make dinner.

And there's chapter one! This whole story will take place in and around Dirk's house. I may not update this very frequently, as my Evangelion fic is taking just the slightest bit more priority. Until then, be cool!


	3. Work and Leisure

I can't believe this one is off to such a flying start! Fanfics dealing with a sudden pregnancy for Sheena must be rare or even one-of-a-kind! And yes, this story will deal with Lloyd and Sheena, as they go through all the obstacles that this pregnancy has to offer. Now on with the story!

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Lloyd could not believe what had been seeing. Sheena had pretty much made a full recovery by the next day, as her body was adjusting to the coming baby. However, Sheena had seemed to get quite an appetite. When Dirk made dinner that night, he had prepared a helping for himself, one for Kratos, one for Noishe, one for Sheena, and three for Lloyd, with some leftover in the pot for another time. However, to everyone's surprise, Sheena had quickly eaten her helping, plus whatever was left in the pot.

"Sorry," she said. "I was just hungry. And hey, I gotta feed my baby."

"Are you sure? At this rate, you'll start eating like Lloyd," said Kratos jokingly.

Lloyd could only just watch and laugh. Sheena appeared to be ready to lay down the house on him, when he announced he was going to take a walk with Noishe. Sheena quickly decided to tag along, since she didn't feel like doing the dishes. This unfortunately left Kratos and Dirk with plates to clean.

Although it was dark, Lloyd and Sheena had nothing to worry about, since Lloyd knew the woods like how well he knew his swords or the Dwarven Vows. And Sheena's ninja training gave her a good sense of direction.

"Man, it still feels weird," said Sheena aloud.

"What does?" asked Lloyd.

"I never figured that me, of all people, would become a mother. I figured that Colette, or even Raine would be a mother before me."

"Same here," replied Lloyd. "I figured Zelos would have been a father before me about five times over."

That thought had Sheena torn between laughter and disgust. "Anyway, I'm glad that you are the baby's father instead of that pervert. I'm glad I fell in love with you."

"Yeah. I guess that would make the baby the symbol of our love wouldn't it?"

"Wow. Raine was right. At strange times, you just happen to say the right things at the right time," said Sheena.

Lloyd scratched the back of his head like he always did. "I guess so. By the way, have you thought of any names for the baby yet?"

Sheena thought for a minute, and then sighed. "Nope. Haven't been able to think of any names yet."

Lloyd took a moment to think. "I suggest, that if it's a girl, we could call her Martel. And if it was a boy, I was thinking about Kratos."

Sheena lit up. "Those are great names Lloyd! Martel Anna Aurion! Or Kratos Lloyd Aurion!"

"Heh. I guess my brain decided to tick again."

"Thanks Lloyd," said Sheena excitedly. "We're going with your names! You deserve a reward for that!"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him lovingly. Lloyd quickly returned the kiss with the same loving force. They carried on for about half a minute when they broke it off to gulp some oxygen.

The soon-to-be father and the soon-to-be mother kissed a few more times before deciding to go back to their home.

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The next day, Sheena was frowning upon her wardrobe. Lloyd woke up not long after.

"What's wrong Sheena?"

"Oh it's nothing Lloyd."

Now Lloyd was a little worried. "Come on Sheena. If there's a problem, you can tell me."

"Oh all right," said Sheena. "It's these clothes I have. In a few months, I won't be able to fit into these."

"Don't worry Sheena. You'll still be you. The beautiful Sheena I know. I got an idea. Let's go into Iselia and get you some clothes you'll fit into no matter how big the baby gets."

Kratos was out at Anna's grave again. He still missed her greatly. He then noticed Lloyd and Sheena setting out. So he decided to inquire into where they were going. "Lloyd. Sheena. Might I ask where you two are going?"

"Oh we're just going to Iselia," said Lloyd. "We're going to get Sheena some clothes." He concentrated for a moment. Then his large angel wings appeared. Sheena climbed on his back. "Oh yeah, and we might go visit Colette too while we're at it."

"Take good care of her Lloyd," called Kratos as the two took off into the sky. As they left, Kratos was making plans of his own. "Lloyd needs to stay active. Just because things are peaceful, doesn't mean it will last forever. Besides, I think he'll enjoy doing this."

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"Hey Lloyd, are you okay with this?" asked Sheena. "Aren't I just a little heavy for you?"

"You dork. You're not heavy," said Lloyd. "When I bring out my angel wings, you're as light as a feather. Even without them, you're not that heavy. So everything's fine."

It didn't take that long to get to Iselia. As usual, it would be quite a sight for someone to come from out of the sky and suddenly land in the village. Once they landed, they were greeted with cheers from everyone around the village.

This only led to great embarrassment for Lloyd and Sheena. So they quickly walked over to the store that had clothes on sale. Luckily for the two, the clothes were all on sale, so the prices were reasonable. After some "Oh Lloyd look at this" and "Lloyd can we get that", Sheena seemed to have enough decent clothes to survive until the baby was born. As for Lloyd, thanks to the sales, it didn't hammer his money supply as bad as he had predicted.

As they planned to go visit Colette, Sheena wanted to ask Lloyd something. "Hey Lloyd."

"What's up?"

"Can we not talk about the baby at all in front of Colette?" she asked.

Lloyd smiled. "Sure. If that's what you wish."

So they proceeded to Colette's house. However, Colette saw them from her house and she flew out to meet them. Yes, she could still use her angel wings. Once she landed, she ran over to meet them. "Hey guys! How are you…" before she could finish, she tripped. Typical Colette. She got up and brushed herself off.

"Hey Colette. How are you doing?" asked Lloyd.

"It's taking a while, but school is becoming fun again! Grandma said I have to take two more years and I'll have all the education I need to go to medical school!"

Sheena spoke up. "What do you want to be?"

"A veterinarian!" exclaimed Colette. "I just love all the cute animals!"

"Yeah, you go Colette!" said Lloyd.

Colette had another question. "And what about you two?"

"Oh we just live at Lloyd's place now," said Sheena. "It's gonna take a while but I think I can get used to Lloyd's substandard table manners."

"Substandard?" said a shocked Lloyd. "Who exactly ate all of the soup last night? I think it was you!" he said pointing at Sheena.

Colette just laughed. "Wow Sheena! It's not easy trying to eat as much as Lloyd. Genis tried it once and he had indigestion for two days!"

They all shared a good laugh about Genis and indigestion. But then Lloyd spoke up. "Well, we must be going now. Dad would wonder where we were if we're gone too long," he said bringing out his large angel wings. Sheena climbed onto his back.

"Bye Lloyd," shouted Colette as they began to take off into the sky. "Oh Sheena! I hope you have a healthy baby! Bye-bye!"

"Huh?" said a confused Lloyd.

"Let's just leave now!" said Sheena, her face flushing a crimson red.

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After they got home, Dirk and Kratos greeted them. Dirk was cutting some wood, and Kratos was doing some training. Lloyd told Sheena to wait inside while he had a talk with Kratos.

"DAD! EXACTLY HOW MANY PEOPLE DID YOU TELL ABOUT SHEENA?"

"Lower your voice Lloyd. I only told Colette, Frank, and Phiadra," replied Kratos. "And eventually, everyone is going to figure it out."

Lloyd, once again outthought and without a possible comeback that didn't make sense, sighed. "Yeah, your right. But we just wanted to let everyone know at our pace."

"I see. By the way Lloyd, I have something I want to tell you."

"And what would that be?" asked Lloyd.

"I've set up a business. You and I are going to be mercenaries. It's called the Father-Son Mercenary duo. This will help us bring in extra money to help with anything we may need, like extra food or anything Sheena may require."

Lloyd seemed excited by the idea of going back into action. "Yeah Dad! That's a great idea. And we're strong enough to handle just about anything!"

"Easy now son. Let's go inside. I believe it is your turn to make lunch! And remember to make extra for Sheena was well."

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Over the next few days, Lloyd and Kratos carried out certain jobs as mercenaries. Since Lloyd was seen as a hero all around the world, it was easy to find work.

Today, Lloyd and Kratos were fighting some bandits who were making raids on Triet.

"You think you can beat all of us?" said the bandit leader. "There's 20 of us and two of you."

"I don't think I can win," replied Kratos. "I know I can win." Kratos concentrated for a moment and then brought out his blue angel wings.

"Same here," said Lloyd bringing out his large rainbow wings.

"Angels!" The bandits were scared stiff. But the leader shouted "ATTACK!"

'Some fools never learn,' thought Kratos. "Lloyd, they're not even worth killing."

"I know that much!" said Lloyd.

So after knocking all 20 bandits out cold, the Triet authorities arrested them and locked them away in the Triet jailhouse. Lloyd and Kratos collected their reward, and flew off home.

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Now we shift gears to Sheena being exactly a full month into her pregnancy. Anyone how knew Sheena and looked at her now would assume she's putting on a little weight.

"Whew!" said Lloyd. "I didn't think there would be that many mercenary jobs available! But look at all the money we got!"

Sheena had an idea. "Hey Lloyd, let's go to Altamira!"

"Why there?"

"Well think about it!" she said. "You've been working your butt off for the past month just for me! I think you deserve some time to have some fun."

"I agree Lloyd," said Dirk. "Besides, I think Kratos can handle the mercenary work by himself. Go have some fun. Remember Dwarven Vow #10! Play long, play lots!"

"Yeah, you're right!" said Lloyd. "Let's go pack. We can go for a couple days."

"Yay!" shouted Sheena with childlike excitement. She ran upstairs quickly to pack. Lloyd also went upstairs to pack. When he got upstairs, Sheena was no longer wearing her Mizuho outfit, but this time she was wearing blue pants with a white tunic. She still looked stunning.

"Wow Sheena, that looks great on you!"

"Thanks Lloyd. I've already packed your bag too!"

"Wow, you work fast when you get excited! Don't overexert yourself now."

"Hey don't worry about it," said Sheena. "The doctor said I could do whatever I want for the first three months. Then I have to take it easy for the last six."

"True," said Lloyd. "Then let's go! To Altamira!"

Meh, I know my chapters are kinda short. But hey, you're enjoying this so far. When they go to Altamira, who knows what'll happen. And they'll meet Regal. What will he think about Sheena's coming baby? Until then, be cool!


	4. I need a Vacation!

Now where was I? Oh yes, Sheena has now been pregnant for one month. And Lloyd and Kratos are doing mercenary work to bring in extra money. With some extra money in the pocket, Sheena wants to go to Altamira. What kind of things will happen there? Now on with the story!

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It was a beautiful day. So beautiful that Lloyd chose to fly rather than use his Rheiard. He still carried his share of the luggage while Sheena had her share on her aircraft. After about an hour of flying, the pair arrived in Altamira. The reception there was similar to that of Iselia, but on a much larger scale. Once again, the two were fairly embarrassed.

"What should we do first?" asked Lloyd as the crowd dispersed.

"Let's go get our rooms first, then we should go visit Regal. I'll bet he'll be glad to see us," replied Sheena.

So the happy couple checked into the hotel. The receptionist gave them a room. He handed Lloyd and Sheena each a key. As Sheena left for the elevator, the receptionist said "Good going Lloyd!" He could tell!

Lloyd, now more embarrassed than ever, caught up with Sheena. And up they went. Once they hit the top floor, it didn't take them long to find which room was theirs.

"Ah, this is nice," said Sheena lying down on the bed. "This is gonna be a blast!"

"Yeah, it sure will be," replied Lloyd. "Let's go visit Regal."

The pair went back down the elevator and left the hotel. They walked along the path to the Lezareno Company. They were halfway there when Sheena had a question. "Hey Lloyd. How do you think Regal will react when he finds out about… the baby?"

"Oh you know Regal. He'll wonder why it happened when it did. But I'm sure he'll be okay with it."

"Yeah, that's a reassuring thought. He'll be cool about it."

They continued on, until they reached the company building. And without further hesitation, they went inside. They went up to the receptionist and requested to speak with the President, who was Regal Bryant himself. The receptionist knew who they were immediately and let them go upstairs.

They proceeded upstairs until they reached Regal's office. They knocked on the door. "Come in," said a man's voice. So they proceeded inside. Regal was sitting behind his desk. His face lit up when he saw Lloyd and Sheena. Regal decided the best place to talk would be his eating hall. He ordered that lunch be made.

While they waited, Regal decided to ask how they were doing.

"Things are going great," said Lloyd. "Dad and I started a mercenary business and we're rolling in the Gald! So Sheena and I decided to take a vacation with the money we had."

"I see. I have been doing much better myself," the older man said. "As you may have noticed, I no longer wear the handcuffs I once had. I believe I have finally atoned for my crime."

"I'm happy for you Regal," replied Sheena. "That is something not easy to overcome."

"Yes you are right," said Regal. Now he looked at Sheena with a rare smirk on his face. He suddenly said, "So Sheena, are you picking up on Lloyd's eating habits?"

Sheena was confused. "What?"

Regal grinned. "I've noticed you've put on a little weight since the last time I saw you. Or is it something else?"

Now Lloyd and Sheena were blushing. Regal just laughed. "I was just kidding. I'm happy for the two of you. You will be parents soon!"

"How could you tell?" asked Lloyd.

"It's one of those things you can pick up by just looking at someone," he said. "You'll notice it too when you get older. If you need, we have baby products for newborn babies. Have you thought out names yet?"

"Yup," replied Sheena. "If it's a girl, we'll call her Martel. A boy, and its name will be Kratos."

"Well it seems you two are quite prepared then," said Regal. Just then, their lunch that Regal ordered came in. It was fabulous as expected. Regal was surprised at how much Sheena was able to eat. She ate almost as much as Lloyd was able to.

"Are you picking up on Lloyd's eating habits?" asked Regal.

Sheena was slightly embarrassed, but Lloyd spoke in her defense. "It's because of the baby. Dad says she needs to eat a lot so she can feed the baby, and since the baby eats some of whatever Sheena needs to eat, it apparently makes Sheena want to eat more."

"I see," said Regal. Lloyd and Sheena then excused themselves. "Enjoy what Altamira has to offer," he said as they left. "You're always welcome here." They said their good-byes and left.

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So now Lloyd and Sheena went to explore what the amusement park had to offer. They had all sorts of fun. Lloyd and Sheena played all sorts of different games, went on all sorts of rides. They would have gone on lots of rides, but two things stopped them. Sheena figured that too many rides would not be good for the baby, and Lloyd threw up after going on the Zipper. So after Lloyd got some breath fresheners into him, Sheena decided he was worth kissing again.

"Well, that was quite a day," said Lloyd after a long day in the park. "I think we should call it a day though."

Sheena was in agreement. "Good idea. Lugging the baby can take quite a bit out of you. On another note though, I'm surprised Regal took this incident so well."

"Well that's Regal. He's always been accepting of others and whatever they plan to do. Well, except Zelos," replied Lloyd. That got a good laugh out of both of them. "We really should consider getting anything we need for the baby here. Because Regal will make sure we get what we need."

Sheena nodded in agreement. "Regal will always be there if we need any sort of assistance."

Another thought came to Lloyd's mind. "I wonder what the others would think of this."

Sheena thought about this too. "I got a feeling that Genis may think you're slightly disgusting for well… doing what we did. Even I gotta admit, that wasn't like me either when it happened."

Lloyd scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that sounds like Genis. And I got a feeling that the Professor would not be happy with me at first. She'd say something like I have a lack of maturity or something."

"True, but I'm sure Raine would eventually be happy for us. She could give all sorts of advice on how to raise children too, because she looked after Genis when he was just an infant."

Now Lloyd's thoughts shifted to Presea. "As for Presea, I'm not sure what she would think. But I think that in the end, she would be happy for us too."

"I think so too," said Sheena. "Presea would be happy that we're finally settling down and not constantly fighting to stay alive."

However, as entertaining as these thought about how their friends would think about this, there was one BIG problem. Zelos.

"And what about Zelos?" asked Lloyd.

"If I had my way," Sheena started. "He would never know we were even having children!"

"But he's gonna find out eventually," said Lloyd. "Don't worry, I'm sure he wouldn't say anything stupid or whatnot."

"I wish I could believe that," replied Sheena. "But knowing that philanderer, he would never let us hear the end of it. And he would know that it happened the morning we went to fight Mithos. Uggh!" Suddenly, Sheena caught a craving. "Hey Lloyd, can we go get ice cream. I'm just craving it all of a sudden."

Without hesitation, the pair set off for the ice cream stand.

A/N: Well, there's the first day at Altamira. Sorry if my chapters seem kind of short. I'm quickly exhausting my ideas. It's like driving a car on an empty tank. But heck, I'm glad you all like it so far.

Lockea Stone, you suggested Sheena has twins. Whether the baby(ies) will be female or not is still up in the air. But I will consider your suggestion and deliberate upon it when the time comes.

Keep reading and reviewing! Until next time, be cool!

PS- I had a thing up here on this chapter asking the readers which title should I use.

1. Life at Dirk's House

2. Chronicles of Sheena's Pregnancy

3. Lloyd and Sheena's New Adventure

Well, the votes are in, and time is up! The winner is Chronicles of Sheena's Pregnancy! The next vote will be on whether the baby(ies) will be male or female. Keep R&Ring!


	5. A work of art

A/N: Well, Regal took Sheena's pregnancy fairly well. Oh and just to remind everyone, I'm starting university soon, so I will be very tied up for a LONG time. But heck, I'll update/work on an update every chance I get. Now on with the story!

Lloyd and Sheena had quite a night. After getting some ice cream to satisfy Sheena's sudden craving, the two had gone for a late night stroll. They shared a private moment together before going back to the hotel to get some rest for the day ahead.

Lloyd woke up first. He noticed Sheena was only wearing her bra and panties. This meant he could catch a look at Sheena's soon coming child. It would still be another eight months, but he couldn't wait for it to be born. He knew the responsibilities that would come with it, but that didn't stop him from being excited.

Sheena woke up shortly after and saw Lloyd staring at her abdomen. Se smiled and said "It's still gonna be a while Lloyd. About eight months until we can say anytime now."

"I know that," replied Lloyd with a chuckle. "I guess this is how a father should feel when he knows his son or daughter will be born soon."

"I guess so," said Sheena. "Say Lloyd, wanna go diving today at the beach?"

"Sure. I'd love to go diving. It'll be like last time when we came to Altamira."

"Great!" said Sheena. "I'll go change into my bathing suit then." She got out her red bathing suit and went to change in the bathroom while Lloyd would change in the bedroom. A few minutes later, Lloyd had his blue and orange bathing suit on while Sheena had her red bathing suit on. When they looked at each other in their bathing suits, it reminded them of that fateful morning down at the lagoon near Dirk's house.

With blushes coming to their face, Sheena decided to try changing the subject. "Hey look, I can still fit into my bathing suit. You can see a bit of a bulge though." When Lloyd looked hard enough, he could see the baby bulging out of Sheena's midsection slightly.

They then grabbed their towels, Lloyd's snorkel and flippers, and went down to the beach.

The morning sun was fantastic. It felt just right. And the morning tide was just wonderful. Once they got to the beach, they set up their towels and prepared to go diving. As Lloyd put on his snorkel and flippers, he said to Sheena "Ready to go?"

"Yup," she replied. "I just wanna take it easy though."

"No problem. Let's dive!"

And with that, the swordsman (dubbed Beach Boy and also dubbed Soon-to-be-Father) and the summoner (dubbed Queen of the Beach and also dubbed Expecting Mother) dove into the waves.

It was a beautiful sight to behold. There were all sorts of neat looking fish to see, the underwater landscape was amazing to look at. There were even exotic looking fish, such as manta rays, tropical fish, and also starfish too.

Sheena watched as the man she loved dove deeper and deeper into the ocean. She was enjoying every moment of her dive. He was also watching her the same way. So they just stopped to look at each other. Suddenly, Lloyd lifted his goggles and snorkel up to his head. Sheena then closed her eyes and expected him to kiss her. Which he did of course. It was quite a sight to behold, the two lovers kissing under the sea. Sheena felt that this moment could last forever, but suddenly Lloyd, broke off the kiss he started. Sheena was surprised for the moment, but then realized what was wrong. Lloyd couldn't hold his breath any longer and had to make a break for the surface! Sheena, who almost let out her air from almost laughing, followed him to the surface.

"GAAHHH!" Lloyd desperately gulped some air. Sheena came back up laughing. Which made Lloyd blush with embarrassment.

"Next time you want to kiss me underwater Lloyd, make sure you can last a little longer than that!" She continued to laugh.

"Oh, so you enjoyed that!"

"I sure did," said Sheena. "Can we do that again?"

"Sure," replied Lloyd. "Just give me a few minutes to catch my breath."

So Sheena waited very patiently as Lloyd took a few minutes to regulate his breathing. Once he had, the two submerged beneath the sea once more. This time, Sheena decided it was time she took control. She wrapped her legs around him, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him.

Lloyd was taken back by the ferocity of Sheena's kiss. He was even more shocked when Sheena began to stick her tongue in his mouth. It almost made him spit out the air he was holding in his lungs. He quickly recovered by wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her tightly.

After a good minute, they broke off the kiss, unwound themselves from each other, and swam back to the surface.

"Wow. That was amazing," said Sheena aloud.

"Yeah: said Lloyd in agreement.

Once the two had finished their time of kissing and diving, they returned to shore. They returned to their hotel room and got dressed. Lloyd was back in his favourite red outfit. Sheena put back on her Mizuho garb. She was still able to fit into it. All that swimming had made Sheena really hungry, so they proceeded to the hotel's restaurant. Once they got to the restaurant, they noticed it was an all-you-can-eat buffet. The manager of the restaurant came to greet the couple.

"Ah, you must be Mr. Aurion and Ms. Fujibayashi. I'm here to let you know that Regal Bryant has made reservations for you, and has paid for all meals that you plan to have here."

"Wow. Thanks," was all Lloyd could say.

"Come right this way," said the manager. So Lloyd and Sheena followed. They were led to a booth. Both got settled in. Sheena couldn't wait to start eating.

"C'mon Lloyd. Let's eat! I'm starving!"

The other patrons at the restaurant were shocked at the amount of empty plates there were at Lloyd and Sheena's table. 24 plates in all! 12 plates for Lloyd and 12 more for Sheena. Mostly because Lloyd always had a huge appetite and Sheena had lots of cravings. Once their bellies were filled, they left.

"So what do you want to do next?" asked Lloyd. "Just no roller coasters yet though."

Sheena had an idea. "Let's have someone paint a picture of us. It would look great for the house! We could put it over the fireplace! Let's do it before I get too chubby!"

Lloyd chuckled at the last comment. "Okay, let's go!" He brought out his angel wings and flew himself and Sheena over to the amusement park. Once there, they searched for the artist who did paintings. It didn't take long, as they found the artist. When he found out who Lloyd and Sheena were, he offered to do their picture at half-price. Sheena had to almost threaten the guy to take the full price.

An hour later, it was done. The picture was beautiful. Almost better than the real thing. The artist told them to come pick it up by tomorrow, as that would be when the paint would dry, and so they could also pick out a frame for it.

Once that was done, Lloyd was good and ready to hit the roller coasters. Sheena decided that going on super-fast roller coasters would not be good for the baby. So she would watch as Lloyd obviously made the most noise of all the riders as the ride went up and down.

"Don't worry, I yelled enough for both of us," said Lloyd after the ride.

"I'm sure you did." Sheena was exhausted and dinner hadn't come along yet. But another thought came to her mind. "I wish there was a way we could tell the gender of the baby before it was born, then we would know what kind of stuff we need to get."

"Hmm, I never really thought of that," said the swordsman. "Hey! Derris Kharlan had all that awesome stuff right? Maybe we could find something up there!"

This made Sheena light up inside. "Wow! I never thought of that. So in two months we'll go to Derris Kharlan and find out if it's a boy, or a girl."

"Okay, it's a done then!" said an equally excited Lloyd.

Sheena excused herself so she could use the bathroom. Lloyd told her to meet him at the Lezareno Company building, as he wanted to ask Regal something.

'Sheena's sure gonna love this. I know it,' thought Lloyd to himself as he flew off to the building.

A/N: So, what is Lloyd planning? Well, you gotta wait till the next chapter to find out! Until that chapter, be cool!


	6. The Question

Okay! It's that time again! Respond to the reviewers!

TrueGamer- The diving scene was inspired by you. I'll give you credit for that.

ArkNavy- How will they get to Derris Kharlan? Well, they have Origin (who still hasn't offered his congratulations) and the Eternal Sword. And as for Mr. Wilder. I have three perspectives of him. I see him as the kind of guy who will try to woo a girl. And I also see him as the guy who would cheer Lloyd on if he tried to woo a girl (Sheena). And the third perspective is the fact that he's a pervert which means any self-respecting girl such as Sheena or Raine should stay away from him.

Kratos Man - Okay. I'll try making this chapter a bit longer. I've been at war with my latest writer's block.

Now on with the story!

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Sheena knew Lloyd had gone to the Lezareno Company. She wondered what he was up to. So, she then decided to go and investigate. To get there, she would have to take the railway to get there. And so she did. After a quick ride on the railway, she arrived at the large building.

Once she entered, she showed the guard the pass allowing her access to the top floor. Once there she saw Lloyd and Regal in a conversation.

"Could you be able to do that?" Lloyd was saying.

"Yes, I believe I can have that done," said Regal. He then saw Sheena. "Ah, what brings you here?"

"Came looking for Lloyd," replied Sheena.

Lloyd quickly spoke up. "Oh we were just having some guy talk. You know, a talk between men."

"I see," said Sheena. "So Regal, where's the other man?"

Lloyd was usually slow to catch on, but when his manhood was attacked, he was quick to defend it. Not even Kratos would be safe from Lloyd when that happened, same with Sheena. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Sheena was laughing. "I was just kidding!"

After reassuring Lloyd that he was indeed a man, Lloyd thanked Regal for the "guy talk" and the couple left Lezareno.

"So what do you want to do next?" asked Lloyd.

"Let's go shopping!" said Sheena.

"Then shopping it is!"

And so our favourite pair goes off to the Lezareno shopping center. Sheena wanted to check out the beauty parlor. Lloyd wasn't sure of how to judge what looks good on Sheena and what didn't. So he did the only thing he could do. When in total doubt, trust your instincts. And to his luck, his instincts hit right on the money. Literally. The things Sheena wanted cost quite a bit. But Lloyd could sustain it on the mercenary money.

While Sheena was still checking out other things, Lloyd told her he had to go somewhere and that he would be right back. So that left Sheena to check out a new section, the baby section. She knew she would have to come down this section eventually. And she was fascinated by the things she saw. Cribs, strollers, bottles, and just about anything else a baby would need.

"Are you an expecting mother?" Sheena turned around to face the direction of the voice. It was an employee, she assumed because of the uniform she was wearing. This woman appeared to be in her forties. The nametag said her name was Margie.

"H-H-How did you know?" asked Sheena. She was hoping not too many would notice.

"Oh it's simple when you put all the pieces together," said Margie. "Your clothes say you are from Mizuho. And Mizuho ninjas are usually in tip-top shape. Yet by looking at your belly, I can see a bit of a bulge. How far along?"

"Oh, it's only been a month," replied Sheena deciding to herself that she could trust this employee.

"Is your husband with you?" Margie asked.

Sheena shook her head. "No, we're not married. I'm surprised it even happened when it did. It just seemed for 20 minutes, my boyfriend and I just couldn't control ourselves. But hey, it happened, and now we've both got a responsibility here on our hands."

"Is your boyfriend here in the store?"

"Yeah he is," replied Sheena. "He's the guy in the red with the two swords. He'd stand out in a crowd like a sore thumb."

Margie smiled. "Ah, I've seen him then. He's been poking around the jewelry section and around the weaponry section. Quite a nice guy you've found."

"Thanks," Sheena said with a blush. Is there anything you suggest a mother would do or have in the first few months of the baby being born? Honestly, I never thought I would have conceived in the way I did. So it left me totally unprepared. And it left my boyfriend even more unprepared than me. But he's willing to go the extra kilometer, no two extra kilometers."

"Wow. That's quite a dedicated guy you have. I'm sure you'll be just fine. Now what I suggest you have for the first few months is…"

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Lloyd seemed satisfied with the things that he had bought. He got gifts for Colette, Dirk, Kratos, and Noishe. He would have considered Raine and Genis too, but they were out on an important journey in an attempt to stop discrimination. Regal had said during their talk that they were here a few days before he and Sheena had arrived, and with Regal's help, the half-elves had amazing success here.

He took a minute to look over the gifts he got. For Colette, a new set of chakrams to replace her old ones. She hated to fight, but admitted that she would have to protect Iselia should something happen and she would be able to fight. For Kratos, He had gotten this sword which was called the Last Fencer. It was a powerful sword and it would do better than the Laser Blade sword he had. For Dirk, he had gotten a new ax. It had a sharp head and a strong handle. Much stronger than the one he originally had. And for Noishe, well, a bone. One with a taste an employee said was so addictive, a dog would never put down. Lloyd did find out that Noishe was a protozoan, but heck, he still acted and looked somewhat like a dog.

He hoped the idea he had gotten from Regal would work as well as he had hoped, as it would make this pregnancy issue a lot easier to deal with. The only to know if it would work would be to carry out the plan. He checked his bags to make sure the one item he specifically bought was there. It was. Now it was time to find Sheena.

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Sheena was quite impressed with how far Lezareno had come along. She had everything preordered, paid for, and could have it delivered within 24 hours notice. But she wouldn't need the baby stuff for at least eight months down the road.

She quickly found Lloyd with a couple of bags in his hand. "Whacha got there Lloyd?"

"Oh some gifts for those back home," he had said. "Chakrams for Colette, a sword for Dad, and an ax for Da-err Dirk," he said. He was still used to calling Dirk his father although Dirk said that he didn't have to anymore because Kratos was well… Dad.

"Wow. You thought of everyone," said Sheena.

"Yup," said Lloyd with a big grin. "And for you, a dinner date at the restaurant known as the Starlight Heaven."

Sheena seemed excited by all of this. "Wow! Thank you Lloyd. But you didn't have to do all that for me."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I love you. I'm ready to do anything for you."

"Oh Lloyd…" She plants a soft kiss on him. "Well, let's go back to the hotel. We got to get ready."

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A few hours later, Lloyd was waiting on the balcony for Sheena to be ready. He had chosen to go with the outfit he had gotten at the Meltokio Ball. He remembered how he and Sheena chatted on the balcony overlooking the dance and afterwards had some private time that they could spend together. Lloyd then wondered what was taking Sheena so long. Perhaps she had difficulty picking out something to wear. The next thought was that perhaps girls always take this long getting prepared. His third and final thought was a guess that Sheena realized her clothes weren't fitting as well as they used to.

Sheena did come out of the bedroom of the hotel room. She decided against wearing the dress that she got from the Meltokio Ball and went with a black dress that covered her whole midsection this time. And she also wore black gloves that went up just below her elbows. "Well, shall we go?" she asked.

And so off they went. Down the stairs, and out the front door of the hotel. The night air was almost perfect. Not too humid, and not too cool. So Sheena popped a question. "What's this place like?"

Lloyd had seemed all fired up about going to this place ever since he mentioned it earlier. "It's supposed to be the best restaurant in all of Tethe'alla."

After a few more minutes of small talk and they arrived at the restaurant. Just like in the hotel's restaurant, the manager has also come to greet them here as well. "Welcome to our restaurant Mr. Aurion and Ms. Fujibayashi. The reservations are made just as you asked."

Lloyd spoke up. "Did you get the table I specifically asked for?"

"When we found out who you were, the one who saved our world, we did everything we could. Please come this way."

So now Sheena was wondering what Lloyd was up to. He seemed a bit smarter than everyone on the journey was giving him credit for. There was no way some idiot could have planned all this. Since they were led to a table on the balcony with candles lit and everything, with the manager being their waiter too. "Can I get you two something to drink?"

Lloyd went with a drink called Flanoir's Flame. It was a non-alcoholic drink that he learned of while in the snowy region in the city of Flanoir where they all were preparing to make the pact with the Summon Spirit of Ice. Sheena chose a drink called Mizuho Mango Punch, a popular drink made by the ninja clan. One of the few secrets leaked that was necessary to bring the village some extra income.

The manager was more than happy to take their orders and left to get their drinks. Sheena noticed Lloyd was fumbling with something in his pocket but decided to ignore it for the moment. She decided to look out beyond the balcony. 'Lloyd sure picked an excellent night to do this,' she thought. The sky was clear and the moon was shining down on them like a beacon. But her growling stomach brought her back to reality. Just then, the waiter returned with their drinks. And then asked if they wanted to order anything. Lloyd went with the Meltokio Goulash. Sheena surprisingly went for the same.

While they were waiting, Lloyd just remembered something. "Oh Sheena, I heard Professor Sage and Genis were here a few days before we came here."

"Really. But in a sense I'm glad we missed them. I'm just not ready to tell them just yet."

Lloyd continued. "I think I would share your feelings on this matter. Presea and Zelos were with them too. Guess Raine and Genis would need some sort of protection on their journey."

"ZELOS? Blech! Perfect timing on our part then! I can imagine it…"

Zelos sees Sheena and Lloyd together. Not only that, he sees the slight bulge in Sheena's belly. That means only one thing. "Wow Sheena! You're pregnant! I'll bet you did her good Lloyd. Whoohoo!" He starts pumping his fist in the air. " Three cheers for Bud the Stud!"

The thought of that continued until Lloyd called her back into reality. "Sheena! Food's here." Her cravings came back.

"Sorry. Just off in Dreamland, that's all. Let's eat."

So the two began their goulash dinners. It was fabulous. Better than either of them had predicted. The portions they were given were huge, but it was nothing Lloyd couldn't handle. And to Lloyd's shock, the goulash also succumbed to Sheena's hunger as well. When it was all good and done, there were two stuffed bellies on that balcony, one more stuffed than the other on account of carrying more than just food in their belly.

Once they were done, they called the manager out for the bill. To their shock, the manager said that Regal Bryant had paid for their dinner. And that they could leave whenever they were ready.

"Wow Lloyd. Thanks for the wonderful evening," she said.

"I a'int done yet," said Lloyd with his hand back in his pocket. "Sheena there's something I want to ask you."

Sheena looked on with curiosity. 'What's Lloyd up to?'

"You've been the love of my life ever since we've confessed our love for each other. And I know beyond a reasonable doubt, that you are the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. Sheena Fujibayashi, will you marry me?" Lloyd was on his knees with a tiny box he had opened that revealed a diamond ring.

Sheena was in total shock. So much shock that she almost fainted. She never thought he would have popped the question she would wait forever for him to pop. She knew the answer she would give him too. "Yes Lloyd Aurion. I will marry you."

They both stood up. Lloyd placed the engagement ring on her finger. Sheena then embraced and kissed the swordsman she fell in love with. As she's kissing him, fireworks go off in the background. Lloyd knew the plan he discussed with Regal had worked fantastically. 'Thanks Regal,' he thought to himself.

A/N: And there you have it. Soon Sheena Fujibayashi will be Sheena Aurion. And yes, Kratos Man, I tried my best to make this chapter a bit long than the others. I hope you all liked it. Until the next one, be cool!


	7. Apple Crisp, Racing, Tournaments

Last time, Lloyd and Sheena were on a short vacation to Altamira. They had all sorts of fun. Now Lloyd has finally popped the question and Sheena agreed to marry him. As for the others finding out about the baby? Well, I'm not sure when it'll happen, but the others finding out IS inevitable though. Now on with the story!

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Two Months into Sheena's Pregnancy

Sheena woke up, feeling well rested. It appeared to be a beautiful morning. Sheena looked at the sleeping man right next to her. He was still sound asleep. She couldn't help but smile at the guy. It had been two weeks since they got married. They got married at the Martel Temple north of Iselia. There were not a lot of people in attendance, but that was fine with them. Lloyd was able to ask Regal to be the best man and Colette was more than happy to be a bridesmaid. Kratos and Dirk were in attendance on Lloyd's behalf. As for herself, she went to Mizuho to ask Chief Orochi, Igaguri, and Vice-Chief Tiga to come. They had already known about what Sheena had done before she was even pregnant. And well, they were not very impressed. But at the same time, they were happy that Sheena was sworn to keeping the secrets of the clan a secret, and that she had found a man she would happy with that had no resemblance in looks or personality to Zelos.

A/N: The Chief has awakened from his coma. Sheena was offered the position of Chief, but she stepped down and gave the position to Kuchinawa's brother.

Without much hesitation, she slipped on a dress she had bought in Iselia, and went downstairs to make breakfast for the three men and dog, while humming a tune out loud. Today, she decided to make apple crisp. It was popular among the folk in Ozette before it was burned to the ground. And she had found all the necessary ingredients too. While continuing to hum the tune, she got started.

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As he woke up, Lloyd wondered where that wonderful smell was coming from. So after getting dressed, he proceeded downstairs. There he saw Sheena cooking something that was the source of the smell. And whatever it was, it sure smelled good.

"Whacha making there?" asked Lloyd.

Sheena was somewhat startled by Lloyd coming down the stairs. "Whoa! You startled me there. Guess I'm losing my ninja senses. Since you asked, I'm making a special treat made in Ozette. It's called apple crisp."

This made Lloyd's mouth water. He just sat at the table, mouth watering. That's when Kratos woke up from his spot on the couch and began brewing a coffee.

"Good morning everyone," he said. "I trust everyone slept well."

"Yup. Sure did Dad," replied Lloyd. "Can't wait for Sheena's apple crisp to be ready."

"Apple crisp you say?" asked Kratos.

"What about it?" said Sheena.

Kratos also sat down at the table. "Oh it just reminded me of he time Mithos tried to make apple crisp. He loved it. But he kept messing it up. And the tantrums he would throw… it's a good thing Martel knew how to make it well. And then he would get mad at Yuan after Martel died because Mithos would assume Yuan knew how to make because he was in love with Martel. Which Yuan didn't know how to make it."

Lloyd just sat there in silence.

"Lloyd?" both Kratos and Sheena said in unison.

Lloyd finally spoke up. "I don't know whether lo laugh at Mithos or feel bad about Martel dying."

Kratos answered. "You can laugh."

In an instant, Lloyd was rolling around with laughter on the floor. While Lloyd was busy laughing, Kratos proceeded to finish making his coffee.

Dirk came in through the front door. "Aye. There are two things I'm curious about right now. One, who's making all the noise? Two, what's that amazing smell?"

Sheena answered. "Lloyd is the one laughing from a story Kratos just told him. And the smell is coming from the apple crisp I'm making. Oh, and it's done cooking."

So the four sat down to a yummy breakfast. Kratos said it was definitely better than Mithos'.

"How about Martel's?" she asked curiously.

"On par," he replied. He then turned to Lloyd. "We need to make some more money."

"Okay, so we'll do some more mercenary work right?" asked Lloyd.

"No, I have an idea that is much more fun," replied his father. "I've entered us both in the Team Battles in Meltokio for tomorrow. If we win, we'll earn 80,000 Gald."

"All right! Let's do it!" said Lloyd.

"Hold on," said Kratos raising a hand. "We need two more people. I want you to go ask Colette and Regal and see if they'll be willing to fight with us." He then looked at Sheena. "I'm sorry Sheena. You could probably help us. But if anything happened to your unborn child, I'm sure the two of you would never forgive me."

Sheena seemed down when she heard this comment but Kratos continued. "But cheer up. We'll bring you and Dirk along and you can watch from the stands."

"Aye," said Dirk. "This will the first time I've seen Lloyd actually in hand-to-hand combat. I made sure Lloyd never went after the Desians although if he had the choice that ranch would be up in flames."

"Or Lloyd for that matter," interjected Sheena. This got a laugh out of everyone except Lloyd.

After finishing his breakfast, Lloyd got ready to go. "Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can." Sheena wanted to come along too. Lloyd didn't want to fly today. So he took out his Material Blades and they transformed into the Eternal Sword.

Origin, the King of the Summon Spirits' voice could be heard in the air. "What do you ask of this sword?"

"Take us to Altamira!" said Lloyd.

"As you wish."

Suddenly, Lloyd and Sheena were in Altamira. They walked over to Lezareno. Lloyd decided to fly straight up to Regal's office. He brought out his wings. He motioned to Sheena. "Hey Sheena, hop on."

"Nah. I'm gonna get myself up there." She began a summon chant. A yellow circle appeared beneath her. "Come, Aska!"

Aska, one of the Summon Spirits of Light appeared at her command. Aska looked like a phoenix with two heads. Sheena hopped on Aska. "Race ya! Let's go Aska!"

"You're on!" Lloyd took off into the sky. So did Aska. People watched from below the race between angel and bird.

Regal was up on the Sky Terrace visiting Alicia's grave like he did everyday. As he looked out on the horizon, he saw two objects coming his way at high speed. One appeared to be Lloyd with his large angel wings out. The other was Sheena riding on Aska. They appeared to be racing.

Lloyd and Sheena both saw Regal waving. The two were neck and neck, as they both flew past the building and then came back. As they landed Regal greeted them.

"Racing I see," he said.

"Yeah we were," said Sheena. "Sorry Lloyd, but I won."

"On the contrary, Lloyd was actually the winner," replied Regal.

Aska then spoke up. "_I'm sorry pact maker. You were… a little heavier than I thought you were._"

Sheena's face turned a crimson red. Regaining her senses, she dismissed Aska. "Thank you Aska. That's all for now." The Summon Spirit disappeared.

Regal changed the subject. "So what brings you two here?"

"Oh Dad entered me and himself in a four-man tournament for tomorrow. But we need four other people. We were hoping you wouldn't mind entering the tournament on our team," said Lloyd.

Regal flexed his muscles. "Hmm. Sounds interesting. It'd give me something to do other than paperwork all day. I believe George can handle the place for one day. Count me in."

Lloyd and Sheena gave each other a high-five. "Now all we gotta do is ask Colette and see if she wants to enter," said an excited Lloyd.

"Then I shall see you two tomorrow in Meltokio," said Regal.

"See ya then," replied Lloyd. He brought out the Eternal Sword and requested to go to Iselia.

Once they got to Iselia, they quickly went to Colette's house. Colette seemed excited by the idea of fighting in the tournament. Frank and Phiadra were okay with it as well. So Colette planned to meet them at Dirk's house tomorrow.

Once they returned, Kratos who was at Anna's grave greeted them. "So, how did it go?"

Lloyd had a grin on his face. "Good to go Dad! We got a team! Colette and Regal are in!"

Kratos smiled. "Good. Then we're set for tomorrow."

Once everyone packed up, they left for Meltokio via Eternal Sword. As Kratos registered the two remaining teammates, Lloyd checked everyone into the hotel. One room for him and Sheena, one for Dirk, and one for Kratos.

Lloyd was so excited that he couldn't sleep. So he got up and left the hotel to go for a walk.

As he was pacing around, he thought of many things. The most important thought being his child that would be born in seven months. He knew he had an important responsibility in front of him. But he felt he would need some tips on what a father should do. Lloyd decided he would ask Kratos after the tournament. To his surprise, he found his child's mother also going for a walk.

"Couldn't sleep either huh?" asked Lloyd as he caught up to Sheena.

"Nah, I couldn't."

"Well, what's bothering you?" asked Lloyd.

Sheena bowed her head down. "It's this city in particular. The city where that moron who calls himself a Chosen lives."

"Still bothering you huh?"

"Yeah, even though he's on a quest with Genis, Raine, and Presea, coming here gives me the creeps. I keep thinking he'll show up and when he sees me the way I look right now, he'll never let me hear the end of it."

Lloyd wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Don't worry too much about him. If he bothers you that much, then he's the one controlling how you act and think. If he ever shows up and brings up the fact that you're pregnant in any sort of a negative way, you can waste him. And I'm sure everyone else wouldn't have a problem with it, the Professor especially. She's the one I'm worried about."

Sheena was curious. "How so?"

"She'll never let me hear the end of how I should have waited until marriage or how immature I am or compare me somewhat to Zelos."

This cheered Sheena up. "Thanks Lloyd. I know I'm not the only one fearing problems from our friends on what happened." Soon the two were sharing a soft kiss.

Once they broke it off after ten seconds, Lloyd declared. "We'll face our friends together! Regardless of what they think or say."

"Yeah!" said Sheena. "Let's do it!"

Hand in hand, the couple walked back to their hotel room.

A/N: I know some of you may cringe at the shortness. But there is an awesome chapter around the corner. The Meltokio 4-person tournament. And in one month, Sheena and Lloyd will go to Derris Kharlan and use their awesome technology to determine the gender of the baby.

I know Sheena had to take a backseat for the tournament. But she gets a front row seat to watch and cheer Lloyd, Kratos, Colette and Regal on! Cheer them on people! Until that chapter, be cool!


	8. Let the Games begin!

A/N: Well, I've got an unofficial poll going here about whether Sheena should have a boy, a girl, or anything along the lines of twins. Voice your opinions people! I listen, unlike politicians! Last time, Kratos said they needed some money. But he suggested a fun way to go about it. And that was to enter in the 4-man tournament in Meltokio. With Sheena unable to fight because of her pregnancy (Bad Lloyd!), they needed two other members. Unable to locate Genis, Raine, Zelos, or Presea, Lloyd recruited the only two people he knew, Colette and Regal. So now Lloyd, Kratos, Regal, and Colette have a tournament to fight. Can they win it all? Find out. Now on with the story!

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It was ecstatic. The crowds were roaring excited about this tournament. Sheena and Dirk had to battle to get a front-row seat. But the pregnant ninja and dwarf managed to get the seats they wanted. Well, they couldn't get them at first, but with a little help from the Summon Spirit Celsius, a path was made to the front.

"Quite cold, but it did the trick," said Sheena once she got sat down.

"Aye. Now we'll get to watch the battles," replied Dirk. "What is it like here?"

"Unless you get good combatants, it can be good. Oh waiter! Popcorn over here please!"

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Lloyd and Kratos met Regal and Colette outside the stadium doors. Colette had her typical white jacket with her guard that she likely wore underneath it and her chakrams. Regal wore his green pants with some light armour to protect his upper section along with his greaves that he used for kicking. "Ready to rock?" Lloyd asked the two.

"Yup I'll do my very best," said Colette.

"Heh. You'll get to see my true battle arts," said Regal. "As you have noticed, I'm not wearing my handcuffs."

"Wow. That'll be a sight to see," replied Lloyd.

"C'mon Lloyd. We must register now," said Kratos motioning for them to get in line.

They got into the lineup to register. There were many different warriors. Of all ages, sizes, and abilities. Finally, they made it to the registration counter.

"Names?" asked the receptionist.

Lloyd spoke up on the group's behalf. "I'm Lloyd Aurion, this is Kratos Aurion, she's Colette Brunell, and he's Duke Bryant," he said remembering Regal's noble title.

Regal was impressed. "I'm surprised you remembered my title."

The receptionist had another question. "And your team name?"

Lloyd thought hard. "Uh, the Transcended Warriors."

"Okay," said the receptionist. "You've been entered. Here's your team number. When they call out your number, go to the arena. The number you've been given is the same number as your room.

Lloyd checked the number. They were #28. So they went to their room. Here they could likely input their strategy.

When they got there, they found Sheena and Dirk waiting for them. "Hey Lloyd," she said.

"Sheena? What brings you down here?" asked a very confused Lloyd.

"Hey we could help you with any strategies you need to plan. And Dirk can make sure your equipment is in tip-top shape. On top of that, moral support."

So while the other matches were being played out, they could plan. There were 64 teams, so only 32 would make it to the next round. They were given #28, so they would be against team #37.

"I believe we should go with this strategy. Lloyd and Regal will attack at the frontlines. I will stay in the middle row, alternating between magic and offence. Colette, you stay in the back row and cast your angel magic from there," said Kratos. "And if necessary, I can heal, and/or if Regal has the opportunity, he can also heal you."

"Okay, we set?" asked Lloyd.

"Not quite," replied Kratos. "Colette, refrain from using your Sacrifice ability. You do not need to sacrifice yourself for us. Lloyd… use your head and do NOT be reckless. And only if you HAVE to, use your wings and/or the Eternal Sword.

"Yeah, yeah," was Lloyd's muttered reply.

Suddenly, the doorman came and said that it was time for them to head out.

Now Lloyd was all fired up. "Let's go kick some butt!"

"Lloyd, come here for a moment," said Sheena once the others had left. Lloyd was confused with what his wife was planning. She suddenly planted a kiss on him. "For luck. Now go get them!" As Lloyd left, Sheena decided she should return to her seat, as she had Sylph guard hers and Dirk's seats.

Once she had gotten back to her seat, she noticed the Sylph were still waiting there for her. She thanked them for guarding the seats and dismissed them. Dirk also made it back as well.

The announcer came out into the arena to announce the teams. "And now prepare for another exciting match! To my right, we have Team #28, the Transcendent Warriors!" Lloyd, Kratos, Colette, and Regal came out of the barred doorway.

"And to my left, we have Team #37, The Elven Storm!" A team of elves came out of the other doorway. One was a warrior, one was a black mage, another was an archer, and the last one was a brute with an ax.

"Wow, that's one big elf," said Lloyd.

Kratos had to speak fast. "Lloyd, you go after the swordsman. I will deal with the archer. Regal can handle the big one, Colette; you stay in the back and focus your attacks on the mage."

"Got it," the three said in unison.

As the announcer left the ring, the referees at ringside gave the go-ahead! "BEGIN!"

Colette quickly brought out her wings and began to chant. Regal moved slowly on the large elf. Lloyd prepared to engage the swordsman. And Kratos prepared to attack the archer.

"HOLY SONG!" Colette shouted. Everyone's senses and coordination suddenly heightened from her spell. She then prepared to chant another spell.

Kratos all the while advanced on the archer while dodging arrows and using his shield to block others. Kratos combined a combo of Fierce Demon Fang and Super Lightning Blade. The archer quickly dodged and then brought out a sword, as if to engage in melee combat.

Lloyd dodged to the two shockwaves from a Double Demon Fang brought on by the elf warrior. And then he countered with an attack of his own. A Twin Tiger Blade, which was two quick and powerful up-down attacks. The elf blocked them both however.

Regal waited patiently for the brute to swing the ax. He did, and Regal dodged, than countered with a Swallow Dance, successfully connecting with several kicks to his opponent's face.

The black mage had finished conjuring a spell at this time and aimed it at Colette. It was an Air Blade spell, and Colette countered with her Angel Feathers spell. The attacks cancelled each other's out.

Kratos had 4,000 years of combat experience under his belt, and he knew how to win. He at first caught his opponent by surprise by bringing out his wings. He then teleported to the other side of the arena where he began a chant. The archer then proceeded to sheath his sword and get ready to fire arrows. But as he had taken aim, Kratos cast the Grave Spell. The archer was skewered by the rocks and taken out of the fight.

Lloyd was in a tight match with his opponent. But he had an excellent idea he wanted to try. Taking some steps back, he also brought out his wings. The shock the elf had gave Lloyd the time he needed. With his large wings, he blew powerful winds in the elf's direction. The elf tried to hold his ground, but was then blown into the arena wall and knocked out cold.

Regal was having an interesting time with his opponent. Unarmed, he seemed to be easy pickings at first. But he was able to dodge the ax assaults with ease. He then used his Mirage technique to sneak around his opponent. Then he followed up with a Wolverine, Eagle Fall, and a one-two punch that left the elven brute senseless.

Colette decided to fly straight at her opponent after his Aqua Laser interrupted her Judgment spell. The mage was surprised by the girl's astounding speed. However, Colette realized she was flying too fast and tried to put on the brakes. She couldn't stop in time and she crashed into the elven mage. Luckily for Colette, the mage was like a cushion and he stopped her from getting too badly hurt. The same could not be said for the mage.

"Uh oh, I think I hurt him," said Colette. "I'm sorry," she said to the unconscious mage.

"Don't worry Colette. We won," said Lloyd. "We would have had to take him out anyway."

"You're right. I'm sorry," replied the blonde angel.

Once the referees determined that no one on the elven team had any will left to fight, they declared Lloyd's team the winner of the match. The announcer confirmed it. "And the winner is Team #28, the Transcended Warriors!"

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Sheena and Dirk greeted the "Transcended Warriors" when they made it back to their waiting room.

"Well, I think that went well," said Lloyd with a big smirk on his face.

"Yes it did," replied his father. "However, we must not get overconfident. We still have five more rounds of fighting to do."

"He's right," replied Dirk. And from what I hear, Team #60 is favoured beyond you guys to win it all."

"Really?" asked Lloyd. "Who are they?"

"We didn't get to see who they were," said Sheena. "However, they were powerful, and very popular with the crowd."

"So, to ensure our success, we must be sure to best whoever this Team #60 is," replied Regal.

"I wonder how they got to be so strong," said Colette. "There isn't really anyone out there who's stronger than Lloyd or Kratos."

"Could it be Yggdrasill?" asked Lloyd. "He may have found a way to come back."

"That is unlikely," replied Kratos. "When Mithos' Cruxis Crystal was destroyed, Mithos' life force was also destroyed. There is no way for him to come back."

"Oh bummer," said Lloyd. "And I was so sure it was him too."

"Lloyd, what have I told you about assuming?" asked Kratos.

"Dad! Come on, I know what it means. Assuming makes a fool out of you and me."

"Good. Now don't assume we'll win this tournament. Even if we beat Team #60 before we go to the finals. Nothing is certain until it has happened."

So they sat around and waited to be called. Sheena and Dirk stayed behind, with Sheena offering moral support and Dirk examining their equipment, making sure their gear would be in top form.

"Team #28!" called the announcer.

"It's time for Round 2. Let's go!"

The Transcendent Warriors had great success through the next four rounds and make it into the finals. They managed to beat everyone they came into contact with. On a positive note though, they did not face off against Team #60. The bad news was that Team #60 had also made it into the finals. Ironically, neither Sheena nor Dirk saw one match that Team #60 had fought, because they were always with Lloyd's team when they were not fighting. The only thing they knew was that Team #60 had some well known people and were favoured to win it all.

"The pressure's on Lloyd," said Sheena. "You gotta take them down!"

"You're not making it better," said Lloyd.

Colette tried to make the situation brighter for everyone. "It doesn't matter if we win or lose. All that matters is that we fight our best. That's all that matters to me."

Lloyd smiled. "You're right Colette. We'll just fight our best."

Kratos came into the room. "It's time. We're to go into the arena."

"See you out there Sheena," said Lloyd.

"Fight hard Lloyd," she replied. She then gave him another good luck kiss and watched him go out to the arena.

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Sheena then went to her seat, where this time, Shadow, the Summon Spirit of Darkness was guarding hers and Dirk's seat.

"You excited?" asked Sheena.

"Aye lass, this'll be the best one yet," said the dwarf in excitement of the finals.

Out came the announcer, who prepared to announce the teams.

"And now…"

To be continued…

A/N: I am so sorry this took so long to post. I have been tied down with university work. I should actually be working but I took some time to slack off and write this. So, who's the mysterious Team #60? Take your guesses people! Until Chapter 9, be cool!


	9. The Finals

A/N: Here we are! It's time for the finals! I won't keep you waiting any longer. On with it!

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"To my right, is Team #28, the Transcended Warriors!" the announcer said. Lloyd, Kratos, Colette and Regal stepped into the arena. There they would uncover the identity of whoever Team #60 was.

"And to my left… is Team #60, Zelos and Friends!"

"What?" said the Transcended Warriors in unison.

Sheena almost threw up in her mouth when she heard the announcement. She didn't want to believe it, but it was true. She watched as Zelos Wilder, Presea Combatir, Genis Sage and Raine Sage came out of the left entrance. "Damn! It's Zelos! Oh Martel, he's gonna find out about me! I can imagine it now!"

"_Wow Lloyd! You got her pregnant! I bet you did her good Lloyd! Woohoo! Three cheers for Bud the Stud!"_

"Ugh! The thought of him makes me want to barf!" she said aloud.

"Calm down lass," said Dirk. "Lloyd and Kratos will be sure to smack Zelos down good. We need to cheer him on!"

"Yeah! Go Lloyd! Cut that pervert into cold cuts!"

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"Lloyd? I'd never expect to fight you of all people," said Zelos.

"What are you doing here?" asked Lloyd.

"We ran out of money while on our quest to rid the world of discrimination," replied Raine.

"And when we saw this tournament come up, we just had to enter," said Genis.

"And we will win," said Presea. "We have grown stronger through working together."

"So why are you here?" asked Zelos.

Lloyd replied. "Dad and I needed more money. So we decided to enter this tournament. But we needed two more people for our team. So we asked Colette and Regal to help us out."

"I see," said Raine. "But why isn't Sheena with you?"

Kratos decided to answer, knowing Lloyd's attempt at a fib may not work so well. "Sheena has decided to cheer us on instead. Her condition has made her unable to fight for a while."

"I see," said Raine.

Zelos drew his sword and brought out his golden coloured wings. "Nothing against you Lloyd, but we gotta win that money!" Presea readied her ax, while Genis had his kendama ready. Raine had her staff handy.

Lloyd drew his swords and brought out his wings. "Fat chance of that! We need that money to live on! Bring it on!"

Kratos drew his sword and shield and brought out his blue wings, Colette drew her chakrams and brought out her pink wings, and Regal readied a battle stance. Kratos told the others what to do next. "Lloyd, I will hold off Zelos. You go after Presea. Regal shall take on Genis while Colette takes on Raine."

"Got it!" The others said.

The announcer took this chance to speak. "Okay everyone, glue your backs to the seats and your eyes to arena. Get ready for the finals!"

The crowd cheered in response to this. The announcer then said "FIGHT!"

A/N: From the TOS soundtrack, play the music called Fatalize.

The two sides then rushed each other. Kratos and Zelos clashed swords, Lloyd's swords met Presea's ax. Regal began preparing to evade Genis' magic, and Colette was having difficulties raising her weapons against Raine.

Kratos and Zelos both fought with a sword and a shield. They took their fight into the sky, dazzling the crowd with their aerial abilities and swordplay. Zelos attacked with a Double Demon Fang, forcing Kratos to go on defense. Kratos flew back, and began to chant for a moment. "Air Thrust!" he shouted. Zelos flew out of the way, and retaliated with a Hell Pyre. Kratos blocked the fireball and flew at Zelos with a Super Lightning Blade. Zelos countered with his own. The attacks cancelled each other out…

Lloyd wasn't sure how to go about attacking Presea. Her ax was as large as her short body, and she swung it so well, it could serve as a weapon and a shield. He managed to backpedal away from her Eternal Devastation attack. He tried to attack with a Tempest Beast, put her ax stood up to the blow. Suddenly, he was hit by her Beast attack. He was sent flying into the air, but using his wings, he was able to stop himself. And he flew back, fueling the speed for a very powerful Rising Falcon…

Regal at first needed to keep his distance. Genis was small, but he was sure as hell powerful with his magic. He had to keep dodging the Cyclone attacks and the Explosion. They were powerful attacks and could have him beat almost instantly. Slowly but surely he advanced upon the half-elf mage. "Gravity Well!" Genis suddenly shouted.

"Bastion!" shouted Regal. As the powerful attack struck him, his green barrier shot up, minimizing the damage done to him. Regal then rushed Genis. Genis tried to run, as he had no time to cast his magic. With a quick use of the Mirage technique, Regal got in front of him. "Gotcha!" he said.

Colette wasn't sure what to do. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt anyone. She had hurt some people during the tournament, but it was to help Lloyd earn the money he needed to keep his and Sheena's livelihood going. But could she raise her chakrams against Raine? Raine was her teacher, and she wasn't sure if she could take the chance of hurting her teacher.

"Colette, hold still, this will hurt only for a second," said Raine, well aware that Collete probably would not fight back. She raised her staff to knock Colette out with one bonk on the head.

Colette then thought 'No! I have to! Lloyd did so much for me. I can do this one thing for him!' She dodged Raine's rod at the last second and countered her attack with her Torrential Para Ball. Raine twirled her staff and repelled the attacks. Raine then prepared to go baseball style on Colette. But she backpedaled with the help of her wings and began to chant, "I beg of you to reveal thy glory… Angel Feathers!"

Zelos was struggling to keep up with Kratos. But he wasn't out of ideas yet. He flew way from Kratos and began a chant.

'What is he up to?' though Kratos to himself.

'Haha, he doesn't even see it coming!' said Zelos to himself. "Sacred powers! Cast thy purifying light upon these corrupted souls! Ready for this? Judgment!"

Suddenly, 13 beams of light rained down on the stadium. Kratos managed to dodge the attacks. However, Zelos' assault would also hit Kratos' allies as well. Luckily, Lloyd saw the beams and blocked an attack with his Guardian attack. Regal was hit though. Colette was not hit at all.

"Lloyd, take on Zelos for a bit! I need to use a spell. Regal, stay light on your feet."

Lloyd knew Kratos could heal Regal. So he kept Zelos entertained while Kratos prepared his spell.

"Hey no fair!" Zelos said.

"First Aid!" shouted Kratos. Regal was healed, however, he was now avoiding Genis and Presea.

Lloyd quickly flew back to help his comrade. Presea saw him coming and pointed her ax in his direction. "You may be able to fly, but it will not help you."

"Watch this," said Lloyd in reply. He began a chant in the air. "Sacred powers! Cast thy purifying light upon these corrupted souls! Goodbye my adversary! Judgment!"

13 more beams of light came down on the stadium. Two of his attacks hit home on Genis and Presea. Once that had happened, Lloyd prepared to go after Raine…

Raine noticed that Colette was still getting in her way. She had to heal Genis and Presea fast or be annihilated by Lloyd and Colette. So she took a second to catch Colette off guard and then kicked her flying. 'Sorry Colette,' she said. She then began to concentrate before shouting "Revitalize!"

Now everyone on Zelos' team was back to full strength. Zelos intensified his assaults on a tiring Kratos. Regal was kept at bay from the intense magic attacks from Genis. And Lloyd and Presea continued their duel. Colette flew back at Raine.

Raine, being the brains of her team got an idea. She knew Colette was naïve and could be easily distracted 'But how?' she wondered as she clashed with the blonde angel. 'That's it!' she said. "Oh Colette!"

"What Professor?" said Colette stopping her attacks.

"You'd better stop fighting me. Lloyd is in trouble," replied the Professor."

As Colette turned to look at Lloyd, Raine brought her staff down on Colette's head, knocking her out of the match. Next, she prepared to take aim at Kratos, who was slowly tiring out from a reenergized Zelos. After a few moments of concentration, she shouted "Holy Lance!"

Kratos was shocked at Zelos' abilities. They were way better than last time. He prepared to make another attack when he was suddenly struck by a Holy Lance attack. 'Damn! Forgot about Raine' he said to himself as he collapsed to the ground. But something stopped him. It was Lloyd.

"Dad! Are you okay?"

"Regal," was the reply from his father before he passed out.

"Oh shit!" said Lloyd realizing he was down there by himself. After setting Kratos down, he went to help Regal, who managed to take out Genis, and was keeping his distance from Presea. Colette was already kayoed. So that left Lloyd and Regal against Raine, Presea and Zelos.

Lloyd prepared to attack Zelos when Raine's Photon attack stopped Regal in his tracks, and was then hit by Presea's Beast, sending him flying into the wall.

"And then, there was one," said Zelos. Lloyd was all by himself now. Raine had also quickly resurrected Genis too. So that meant four against one.

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Dirk and Sheena were still watching from the stands. It was looking okay for a moment, but just like that, Lloyd was all by himself on the field.

"This looks bad," said Dirk. "Lloyd can't beat them all by himself. Even with his angel wings, he'll be overpowered."

"C'mon Dirk," said Sheena. "You gotta have more faith in him than that. Besides, there is still one thing left he can do. That's if he knows what to do."

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"You know Lloyd," said Zelos. "You can just give up and take the runner-up prize. And you won't get hurt."

"You know Zelos," replied Lloyd. "You beat me to it. I was just about to say the same thing."

"What do you mean?"

Raine thought about all the possible capabilities Lloyd could do. He had angel wings, large ones at that. He knew the Judgment spell, possibly taught to him by Kratos, and there was that pact with Origin that got him the Eternal Sword. 'But wait, doesn't the Eternal Sword lie dormant in his Material Blades, which he's using right now?' "Zelos, this battle is far from over."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Lloyd then took the Flamberge and the Vorpal Sword and raised them up into the air. They turned into two balls of light. The lights merged together to form a purple light, which materialized into the Eternal Sword. Lloyd grabbed the legendary blade and said, "I show you the true power I possess."

A/N: Now play Beat the Angel on the TOS soundtrack.

Zelos waited a moment, then charged. Lloyd sidestepped to Zelos' left. His speed caught Zelos off guard. So fast that Zelos had difficulty keeping up with the afterimages Lloyd was creating. The two swordsmen clashed. Lloyd used his Beast attack to push Zelos back, then went after Raine. He teleported in front of Raine, which startled her so bad, she lost concentration. Raine tried to go baseball on Lloyd, but he was too fast. He moved behind her with incredible speed. Before Raine could react, he knocked her out with a whack to the back of her head from his free hand.

"Explosion!" shouted Genis. Lloyd raised his sword, which created a barrier. As the large ball of mana struck the barrier, it was suddenly re-directed at the charging Presea with four times the force. Presea tried to defend herself with Earthly Protection, but it was too much for her to handle.

'Damn!' thought Zelos. 'The Eternal Sword has amplified his power ten-fold!' "Thunder Blade!"

Lloyd quickly dodged the Thunder Blade and flew after Genis. He was about to strike him head on, but pulled up at the last second, creating a large wave of wind that blew Genis of his feet. He was defeated too.

Lloyd turned to face Zelos. "And then there was one."

Zelos began his Judgment chant. "Sacred powers! Cast thy purifying light upon these corrupted souls! Ready for this? Judgment!"

The beams of light came raining down on Lloyd. He was hit by the attack, but he emerged unharmed.

"Let's finish this Zelos," said Lloyd. The two angels flew up in the air, their blades clashing furiously. Zelos was amazed that Lloyd was able to fight well with one sword as he did with two.

Zelos' timing of his blocks was a bit too slow. Lloyd shoved him and said, "Prepare for divine justice!" Zelos knew he was doomed. "Falcon Crest!" Zelos was hit by the full scale attack and was brought down, defeated.

The announcer then declared Lloyd's team the winner. "And the winners are Team #28, the Transcended Warriors!" The crowd cheered in response to the announcement with Sheena and Dirk cheering the loudest.

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Once they received their prize money, Lloyd offered to divide the 80,000 four ways between his teammates. Colette accepted, whereas Regal declined because he had enough money as it was. So Lloyd and Kratos had 60,000 Gald, and Colette had 20,000 Gald.

Once they got back outside, they were greeted by Sheena and Dirk. Sheena threw her arms around Lloyd and gave him a kiss.

"Aww, how cute," said Colette.

Suddenly, Sheena's ninja senses sensed something. It told her to hide, and she did so behind a wall. 'Huh?' thought Lloyd. 'What would make her run like that?'

"Hey Lloyd, that was quite a match." Lloyd turned around. It was Zelos, Raine, Genis, and Presea. Zelos and Presea had been bandaged up from the hits they took. And Raine was holding an icepack on the back of her head. Genis apparently came out in the best condition of the four.

"That was interesting how powerful you have become," said Presea.

"Thanks for not hurting me too badly," said Genis.

"That whack did hurt you know. Didn't I teach you in class you should never strike a woman?" said Raine.

Lloyd quickly defended himself. "Genis told me that if you can strike a woman once if she hits you at least three times. And you've hit me more than three times."

Genis got scared. "No Sis!" Raine glared at him angrily.

WHACK!

Genis now had an icepack on the top of his head.

Zelos had a question. "Say, wasn't Sheena living with you? Where is she?"

"She's behind the wall," said Lloyd. "Sheena come on out."

"I won't," came the reply from Sheena.

"Come on Sheena," said Lloyd again. "You know better than I do that you won't be able to hide it forever."

'Hide what?' thought Raine. 'What could Sheena have done that would make her want to hide it from us?'

"Oh all right," said Sheena. "But no had better laugh or I'll summon!"

Sheena emerged from behind the wall. All four of them gasped at the sight of her slightly bulging belly.

"Oh Martel!" said Raine. "How far along has it been?"

"About two months," replied Sheena.

"I see," replied Raine. She decided to continue her inquiry. "When did you find out about your pregnancy?"

Sheena answered with her head bowed down, "The day after we beat Mithos."

Raine brought her hands to her mouth. 'This means they were doing naughty things early in the morning!' She turned to face Lloyd now. "Lloyd, I honestly thought you were more mature than that! Or too dumb to know how to do it!" she said with a menacing look on her face.

Lloyd raised his hands in defense again. Raine saw a gold ring on his left hand. This cooled her down a bit. "I see. So you two got married. Well I guess now is the best time to say congratulations."

"Thanks," said Lloyd and Sheena in unison.

Presea took this moment to speak up. "What names have you thought for the baby?"

"Lloyd picked the names," said Sheena. "If it's a boy, his name will be Kratos. And if it's a girl, we'll call her Martel."

"Hey according to what we studied in class," started Genis. "We should have some sort of difficulty seeing it, but we can see the baby as clear as day. So either it's gonna be a big baby or twins!"

"Wow! Two babies!" said Colette all excited.

"That's strange," said Lloyd. "Zelos hasn't said a word at all." Now everyone looks at him. He appears to be hiding a laugh. "Zelos?"

Zelos couldn't hold it in any longer. "Wow Lloyd! You got her pregnant! I bet you did her good Lloyd! Woohoo! Three cheers for Bud the Stud!" He began pumping his fists in the air, when he noticed Sheena was doing something. "Huh?"

There was a brown glowing circle beneath Sheena's feet. "I call upon the Servant of Mother Earth! I summon thee! Come! Gnome!"

The large brown Summon Spirit of Earth appeared, shovel in hand. "What do ya want pact-maker?"

"Shut that pervert up!" ordered Sheena with a dash of anger in her voice.

Now Zelos was scared. "No Sheena! I didn't mean it! Stop!"

BONK! Gnome was thanked greatly by Sheena, then dismissed.

"We'll carry him back to his mansion," said Presea. "I'm sure he'd invite you for dinner if he wasn't unconscious." Presea dragged the red-head back to his mansion.

"I'm up for some food!" said Lloyd. "Let's eat!"

A/N: And there you have it! I hoped you enjoyed it. Since some of you wanted Sheena to have twins, I made so it will either be a big baby (boy or girl), or twins (two boys, two girls, or boy and girl). Oh yeah, the polls have started, so make yourself known for what you want to happen! Until Chapter 10, be cool!


	10. The baby is a

A/N: Well, after a hard-fought battle, Lloyd, his pregnant wife Sheena, his adoptive father Dirk, and his father Kratos returned from Meltokio with the prize money in hand. Along the way, they met up with Zelos, Genis, Presea, and Raine. And they learned about Sheena's well… condition. What new adventures await them? On with it!

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Dirk's House – One month after the tournament.

Sheena woke up to a beautiful sunny day. She looked at herself and patted her belly. "Wow, at this rate, I'm going to be fat in no time." She decided to put on her Mizuho style garb. She got the top on fine, but when she tried to put her pants on, she screamed.

The scream woke up Lloyd. "Huh? What's going on Sheena? Is Zelos here?"

"No it's not that."

"Then what is it?"

Sheena showed him her pants. "The problem is that these don't fit me anymore. And I loved these too." She went to put on some bigger clothes. "I can't wait for this baby to be born; I'll be able to fit into my ninja clothes again."

A thought just hit Lloyd. "Say hasn't it been three months since this began?"

The thought hit Sheena and she was filled with excitement. "Yeah it has been! Let's go find Kratos so we can go to Derris Kharlan! We can find out if the baby is a boy or a girl!"

Without much hesitation the couple went out to find Kratos, who was at Anna's grave again. "I was wondering when you two would wake up," he said.

"Hey Dad," started Lloyd. "Sheena and I were hoping we could go to Derris Kharlan today."

Kratos knew they had both wanted to do this for a while now. The baby had time to develop since then and he felt now could be a good time. "Alright Lloyd, we shall go today."

"Great. Thanks Dad," said Lloyd.

With the calling of the Eternal Sword, the Summon Spirit Origin transported them to Welgaia on Derris Kharlan.

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Derris Kharlan

The place looked like it did when they last came here to fight Mithos. Except the angels were back. "This way," Kratos said, bringing his wings out. Lloyd did the same and Sheena hopped on his back.

After flying in the city for about two minutes, Kratos landed. It appeared to be a medical facility of some type. So the three entered.

An angelic receptionist was there. "Lord Kratos, what can we do for you?"

"A few things," he replied. "Have all the Cruxis Crystals been destroyed like I asked?"

"Yes they have. And everyone is returned to the way they used to be before they became Lifeless Beings," said the receptionist. "What else did you need?"

"I need to use some of the X-ray equipment you have." He pointed to Sheena. "My son's wife is pregnant and well… we're all curious as to if we could use the facilities to determine the fetus' gender."

"Absolutely," replied the receptionist. She hit a button, and called over the loudspeaker system for a doctor to come down the waiting room. He took all three of them into an X-ray room.

He told Sheena to lie down on the bed, and he put a sensor over her belly. "Now watch the screen," he told everyone. "You won't see it very well, but you'll see the baby."

Just as the doctor said, an image of something could be made out on the screen. "Wow," said Lloyd. "Sheena, that's our child!"

"Hey, you're right!" she replied. "Hey doctor, is it a boy or a girl?"

The doctor was at a computer. Then he realized something. "Hold on, the camera is not as it should be." He went back over to where Sheena was lying and readjusted the sensor.

Just then, Lloyd spoke up. "Hey doc, are you sure they're nothing wrong with this? I'm seeing two images now."

"Huh?" the angelic doctor looked at the images. "Amazing. Lord Kratos, your daughter in law is going to have twins!"

"Twins?" they all said in unison.

"Yes. Make no mistake; you have two fraternal twins there. Now I'll check their genders." Lloyd, Sheena, and Kratos waited patiently as the doctor checked his findings. "Okay, one will be a boy, and the other will be a girl. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Aurion."

"Thanks," said Lloyd. He looked at Sheena. "So I guess we will be having a little Kratos and a little Martel after all."

So after thanking the doctor and making their way back to Dirk's house, Sheena had an idea. "Let's go find Dirk and we'll all go celebrate."

"That's a great idea," said Lloyd. "But which restaurant?"

Kratos took this chance to speak up. "I know of a restaurant in the just-rebuilt Palmacosta. I heard the food there is great."

"Great," replied Lloyd. "I'll go get him then!"

Dirk was inside after a long day of crafting. He was making something special in his crafting room. Once he heard someone come barging in, he threw a cover over it so no one could see it. "Lloyd, what's the rush?"

"Hey Dad, Sheena, Dad and I wanted to know if you wanted to come out to dinner with us tonight. We're going to this restaurant in Palmacosta."

"Aye, that sounds interesting. I'm in. Just give me a minute to get cleaned up."

Lloyd was curious to as whatever was under the cover. "Hey what's under the cover?"

"That's a special order. No looking at it!"

"Okay, okay. Don't take my head off. I'll wait for you outside." Lloyd went back outside to wait for everyone else.

Once Lloyd came back upstairs, he saw Colette there too. "Hey Colette, when did you get here?"

"Sheena invited me," she said with her usual smile. "I want to hear what the baby's gender is."

"How'd you get to Iselia Sheena?" asked Lloyd.

"Well I could've gone there myself, but I figured that wouldn't be good thing to do during a pregnancy, so I asked Origin to take me there and back."

Once everyone was ready to go, Lloyd used the Eternal Sword to transport everyone to Palmacosta. The city was almost completely rebuilt from the disaster that struck the great city when the Giant Kharlan Tree went out of control. They found the restaurant Kratos was talking about and in they went.

Once they had all sat down and ordered something, Colette asked the question. "So Sheena, is it a boy or a girl?"

Dirk was curious too. "Boy or girl lass?"

Sheena decided to drag it out. "Well once we got to Welgaia, we found the medical facility thanks to Kratos. After that the doctor made me lie on this table while they put this sensor on my belly. That's when we saw the image of our unborn child."

Colette and Dirk were listening with great interest as Sheena continued.

"You should have seen the look on Lloyd's face when he saw the image. He was completely in awe of the sight. The doctor then noticed that he had the sensor put on incorrectly. After correcting the error, he found out I was going to have twins!"

"Twins?" said Dirk nearly falling out of his chair. "Lloyd was a pain on his own and he was three years old by then!"

"Hey!"

"Easy now son," said Dirk. "I was just kidding. Continue Sheena."

"After that, he checked for their genders. And he found out one was a boy and one was a girl. So we'll have a little Kratos Aurion and a little Martel Aurion. Sorry Dirk, no Lloyds."

"Wow. Twins! Can I be a babysitter?" asked Colette.

"Couldn't find anyone better than you," said Sheena. "But I feel sorry for Lloyd though."

"Why is that?" asked Lloyd.

"Double trouble for you when the babies decide to be loud and drive you up the walls."

Just then the food came along.

After they were all done…

"Wow Sheena. You ate more than Lloyd did," laughed Colette. "You're picking up his habits."

"I'd hate to know where that path goes," said Sheena. "Lloyd's habits are not always good."

Lloyd was flustered. "Hey! Better me than Zelos!" That made Sheena shut up pretty fast. "Speaking of Zelos, I heard he and Raine were going out while on the quest to end discrimination."

Sheena was shocked. "How many times has he cheated or flirted with other girls during this time?"

"Presea said not once so far," replied Colette. "Something about Zelos needing a lot of willpower to resist the urges."

"But it will keep his head away from her staff," said Kratos. Everyone laughed at that comment.

Once they paid the bill everyone went home. Lloyd and Sheena went to bed that night knowing that Kratos and Martel would be born in about six months.

A/N: I apologize if this chapter was short. I needed to get it over with and. So if anything was rushed or whatnot please understand. Oh yes, and thank you for all your reviews and votes so far. I had this sent off to be preread, but after six days, no reply. So I'll post now. Until 11, be cool!


	11. A bet

Well, it's been a while since I wrote any chapters as of late. I'm lacking inspiration, so production is slow. But do not despair, for I am J.G. the Game Master! I always have a plan for everything! Now for a quick response to the reviewers because I have not been around for a while!

NINJA- A lemon fic based on this. Yes I did one. It's in the M rated section. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU ARE 18 YEARS OF AGE!

Ark Navy- Sorry though. Rainelos it is. I am sick of Kraine and Regaine has pretty much also been taken. I can utilize my sense of humour with this pairing as well.

Tim- Sorry, but Kratos and Martel were the first two names I could think of.

Mormongoth- A sequel after Kratos and Martel are born? Hmm. We'll see.

On with it!

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It was another amazing sunny day in the Iselia region. Outside, Dirk's house, Lloyd and Kratos were having another round of training.

"Lloyd, you've come along great, but you just lack experience."

"Dad! I'd like to think I'm well experienced," replied a flustered Lloyd.

"Easy son," said Kratos. "I'm not saying you are inexperienced. You haven't lived for 4,000 years like I have. Let's go again."

Lloyd attacked again with his twin practice swords. Kratos blocked his son's attacks with his sword and shield and retaliated with a flurry of moves of his own.

Lloyd blocked his father's attacks and stepped back. "Check this move out Dad!" Lloyd began to spin his arms around. "Like it?" he asked while spinning his arms around. "I call it the Attack Wheel!"

Kratos frowned at this bizarre display of action coming from his son. "You're wide open."

"What?"

Kratos kept his frown. "I'll show you."

As the sword twirling Lloyd advanced upon his target Kratos got his plan ready. Kratos disarmed his wooden practice shield and sheathed his sword. With his shield in his right hand, he threw it right at Lloyd!

Lloyd never saw it coming. The shield flew right through the space in his "Attack Wheel" and drilled him right in the face! The hero who saved the world was beaten single-handedly by his father.

"OWWWW!" shouted Lloyd. "Why the hell did you have to do something like that?"

Kratos walked over to the downed Lloyd trying his best to suppress a chuckle. "I told you that you were wide open but you didn't believe me. So I had to prove it. So just relax and I'll heal you."

A glow of white light surrounded Kratos' hand, and the big mark on Lloyd's face disappeared. Lloyd felt his strength come back to him and he was able to stand up.

"That's better," said Lloyd.

Sheena came walking outside holding a tray with some drinks on it. "Boys, you got drinks here!"

"Score!" shouted Lloyd. Sheena then went around the other side of the house to call Dirk. Lloyd and Kratos then sat at the picnic table with the drinks Sheena made.

"So what's the score now?" asked Sheena.

"I'm winning the series 3 matches to 2," replied Kratos. "Lloyd wanted to try a new move today."

"Aye, so that means if Lloyd loses the next match, he has to cook the turkey three days from now," said Dirk. "You had better concentrate in the next match Lloyd."

Lloyd was embarrassed. "Hey, what happened to the saying try new things?"

"Lloyd, you don't try new things when you made a bet with Kratos," said Sheena.

"By the way," asked Kratos. "Have you asked the Summon Spirits to hand out the invitations to the others?"

"Yup," replied Sheena. "Effreet is giving an invitation to Colette. Luna is on her way to Lezareno Company to deliver an invitation to Regal, and the other Summon Spirits have split up looking for the others."

"I see," said Lloyd. "You've reduced the Summon Spirits to mail carriers."

"Lloyd!"

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Somewhere else

"We've done quite a bit of work," said Raine. "We'll rest and set back out tomorrow."

"Yes. We should rest after the hard work we've done today," said Presea.

"Where's Zelos?" asked Genis. "It's his turn to cook tonight."

"He's in his tent in a deep meditation," replied Presea.

"Sis! Why are you doing that to Zelos?" asked Genis.

"I told him that if he wants to have a relationship with me, he's going to have to tone himself down about a hundred thousand notches."

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Flashback

"Come on Raine," said Zelos. "You gotta get out once in a while. You can't hide in a shell forever! You don't know how much people will dig ya if you gave them a chance."

Raine did not feel ready to be in a relationship with Zelos, knowing his behaviour patterns. But she knew at the same time, he did deserve a chance. "Okay Zelos, I'll give you a chance. However, if I catch you cheating or doing anything else disgusting, I won't hesitate to ask Genis and Presea to give you a beating."

"Really?" asked Zelos.

"I figure I ought to give you a chance to prove yourself. You've gone out of your way to help Genis and myself on this journey so far."

Zelos seemed so happy. "Thank you my Gor… Raine! I'll do my best!"

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The others watched Zelos. He was indeed in a deep meditation. Everyone knew Zelos had been using meditation to clear his mind of any dirty thoughts. It was evident that Zelos wanted to take his relationship seriously.

"So what will we use for fire tonight?" asked Presea. "If necessary, I can go find wood."

"Why don't we just use Zelos' stash of magazines?" Genis suggested. "It would help on his way towards being a better person if he got rid of those."

"That's a good idea Genis," said Raine. She went into Zelos' pack and pulled out all his adult magazines.

Not long after they got the fire cooking, Zelos awoke from his meditation. "Ah, breathe the fresh air of the night," he said aloud. He saw the others tending to the fire. "Hey, what'd you use for fuel?" he asked.

"Raine went into your pack and took out all the magazines with the girls on them," said Presea.

"I see," said Zelos, not the slightest bit shocked from Presea's response. "Well I guess I'd better get cooking now. How do you all feel about hamburgers tonight?"

"Not your hamburgers again," said Raine. "They're way too bland."

Zelos grinned. "Not a problem! Just give me a little time to cook here alone and I'll make these burgers awesome!"

And so the others went back over to their tent when a black light flashed in front of them.

"Gah!" they all said. Quickly, the light vanished, and in its place, was Shadow, the Summon Spirit of Darkness.

"Hey! It's Shadow!" said Genis.

"If Shadow is here, then Sheena must have sent him," said Presea.

"What is it?" Raine asked the spirit.

"Pactmaker… brings... invitation…"

"To what?" she asked.

"Read…" the Spirit replied before vanishing. Where it disappeared, laid a piece of folded paper. Raine went over to get the piece of paper.

"What does it say?" asked Genis.

"It's an invitation from Lloyd and Sheena. It says: To Professor Sage, Genis, Presea, and Zelos. We're having our Thanksgiving dinner in three days. We would really be honoured if you four could attend. That includes Zelos too. We hope so see you then. From Lloyd and Sheena."

"Aww, how nice," said Genis. "Sis, we have to accept that invitation! I wanna see Lloyd, Sheena and Colette again!"

"It would be polite if we accepted," said Presea in agreement with Genis.

"Let's go for it," replied Zelos. "Free food rocks!"

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Colette was outside playing with her friends. She had flown up on the roof to retrieve a ball the kids roofed when Effreet, the Summon Spirit of Fire showed up on the roof.

"Ah Colette. The Pactmaker Sheena extends an invite to you." Effreet then handed Colette a folded up piece of paper that unfortunately was burnt on one side. As the Summon Spirit disappeared, Colette unfolded the paper and read it.

After reading it, Colette had a big grin on her face. "Wow. They want to invite me over for a Thanksgiving party!"

"Hey Colette! Did you find the ball yet?"

"I'm sorry!" she called out. "I was just distracted for a moment."

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Regal was in his room, looking for a candle since his company had something of a power failure. As his hopes of finding a candle were getting dire, a flash of light appeared. It was Luna, the Summon Spirit of Light. Her presence illuminated the room.

"You're Luna!" he said. "Sheena must have sent you right?"

"Yes, you are correct," said Luna sitting comfortably on her floating half moon. "I come on behalf of the Pactmaker. She extends an invitation to you." She handed Regal a folded piece of paper. "Have a good day," she said before disappearing.

Regal read the letter in the dark. Apparently Luna's holding the letter must have made it light up, because Regal understood everything the letter said with no other light source. Once he left the room, and went into a more light filled room, he began to make arrangements so he could take the day off three days from today.

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2 days later

Kratos and Lloyd were having another match to decide who was cooking the turkey. Lloyd appeared to be losing and he went with his "Attack Wheel" again as an apparent act of desperation.

"Lloyd, you never learn do you," said Kratos.

'Wait for it,' thought Lloyd. Little did Kratos know he was walking into a trap. Lloyd slowly advanced like he did last time. "You got lucky last time Dad! I'm not stupid enough to fall for it again!"

Kratos sheathed his sword and prepared to throw his shield. Suddenly, Lloyd launched several Demon Fangs from his Attack Wheel! And Kratos was totally off guard. The shockwaves slammed into him and knocked him down.

"All right Lloyd," said Sheena from the sidelines. "Way to go!"

"Way to use your head Lloyd!" said Dirk also cheering from the sidelines.

Kratos was a little slow to get up from that one. "Heh, you got me Lloyd."

"Sheena taught me that one. A little trickery never hurt anyone. Except you in this case. Now the series is tied at three apiece."

Kratos grinned. "Let's settle the last match right now," he boldly said.

"You sure?" asked Lloyd.

"I'm fine. I can heal myself if you have forgotten." Kratos glowed for a second and all his injuries disappeared. "Let's take this one up a notch too." Kratos began to concentrate. A blue glow surrounded Kratos for a few seconds before his blue wings appeared out of his back.

"Alright. Let's do this!" Lloyd began to concentrate as well. A rainbow glow surrounded him for a few seconds before his large multi-coloured wings appeared out his back."

A/N: As you may have noticed, I included the holiday Thanksgiving in it. It'll be out on or before Thanksgiving. Until number 12, be cool!


	12. Turkey Time!

A/N: I guess the majority of my readers appear to be American. I'm Canadian just to remind you all and our Thanksgiving is this weekend. I apologize for any inconveniences. Well, time to keep the ball rolling! Lloyd and Kratos in match number 7! On with it!

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Cue the music: End of a thought from the TOS Soundtrack

The two angels took their match to the air. "Are you ready Lloyd?" Kratos asked while pointing Excalibur at Lloyd.

"You bet Dad!" replied Lloyd pointing the Vorpal Sword at Kratos.

"Then let's do this."

The two warriors clashed in midair. They were moving at incredible speeds too. Lloyd flew at Kratos with a scissor cut. Kratos vanished and attacked from below. Lloyd saw this and he also vanished, a skill Kratos taught him as well.

'Where did he go?' thought Kratos to himself. 'He won't be gone for long though.'

He was right. Lloyd appeared right in front of him. The two crossed swords again. Lloyd wasn't holding anything back. Lloyd kept up a furious onslaught on Kratos.

Lloyd knew Kratos would look for a hole in his twin sword assault and attempt to utilize it. Kratos then increased his speed and tried to circle around and hit Lloyd from behind, knowing Lloyd would not be able to mount a good defense with two swords.

But to Kratos' surprise, a green barrier shot up around Lloyd and deflected the attack.

"Not bad Lloyd," said Kratos. "You've learned a lot."

"Well what can I say," replied Lloyd. "I learned from one of the best."

"Then let's continue."

On the ground, Dirk and Sheena were amazed. Lloyd and Kratos were indeed very powerful and very fast. This was almost like the Coliseum battle, where Lloyd had to go on a one-man onslaught to win the title.

"This is amazing," said Dirk. "I'm having enough problems keeping up with their afterimages."

"That's Lloyd for you," replied Sheena. "Just purely amazing."

They watched as Lloyd was now moving so fast and was circling Kratos. So fast that with the afterimages, there appeared to be five of him. Kratos had lost track of which one was the real Lloyd.

Kratos had an idea. He knew Lloyd was moving so fast, he'd be likely to walk right into a magic attack. He began to concentrate. A green glow surrounded him. After a few seconds he shouted "Air Thrust!"

His plan worked. Lloyd saw the attack too late. Three afterimages went through it, but the real Lloyd smacked into it.

When Lloyd reemerged, he was far from happy. Lloyd flew back and began to concentrate as well. This time, angel feathers flew around the pinkish glow that was surrounding him. Kratos knew what is was, and it was bad. Sheena knew it too and her and Dirk ran indoors.

"Sacred powers! Cast thy purifying light upon these corrupted souls! Goodbye my adversary! Judgment!"

13 beams of light came raining down. Kratos quickly used Guardian and blocked the blow.

"Lloyd! Be more careful!" he shouted.

"Whoever wants the match more will win it," was the reply. Lloyd was dead serious on winning this match.

Kratos knew he had to be serious too. There was no way he was cooking the turkey. He remembered making a similar bet with Yuan over 4,000 years ago. Kratos unfortunately lost that one too.

Kratos attacked his son with everything he had. This time, Kratos hit Lloyd's swords so hard, that the young swordsman accidentally dropped his swords. Kratos then smacked Lloyd in the back of the head with his shield.

Kratos watched Lloyd fall to the earth. "Learn to respect your elders son," he said before getting ready to descend and declare victory.

But the unthinkable happened. Lloyd managed to stop in mid-fall. He floated back up until he was at the same altitude his father was at. Kratos looked at the boy carefully. There was fire in his eyes.

Lloyd shot his arms out. Strangely, the swords had come back to him. It then hit Kratos as to what was happening. _Lloyd was going to use the Eternal Sword_. The swords turned into two balls of blue and red light. They merged together to form a purple light. Than that light materialized into a very large purple sword. The mana that was flowing from Lloyd was astounding. Kratos then truly realized that Lloyd had become even more powerful than Yggdrasill had become.

Lloyd flew at Kratos with devastating speed. Kratos tried to attack but Lloyd had vanished. Luckily Lloyd was so powerful he could be sensed easily. The attack was coming from behind. Kratos used his sword and shield to block the incoming blow. Kratos made some attacks of his own which Lloyd was able to block. The Eternal Sword was increasing Lloyd's power and his speed.

"Well Lloyd, it looks like we're on the same level now," said Kratos. "Let's give Sheena and Dirk a show they'll never forget."

"Let's do this Dad!" said Lloyd.

And so they clashed again. Lloyd was swinging wildly with the sword in hand. Kratos repelled all the attacks and this time used Fireball. Lloyd blocked all the attacks simply by twirling the sword. Lloyd flew back and tried a few more maneuvers. It was as if using the Eternal Sword had given him more confidence than before.

Kratos attempted a link of Sonic Thrust, Lightning Blade and Super Lightning Blade. But his son managed to block all the attacks.

Lloyd was thinking that it was time to end the clash of the angels. He concentrated again. "Illusion!" he shouted aloud. Suddenly, Lloyd split into two Lloyds. "Sheena also taught me this one! There's a real me and a fake me," both Lloyds said in unison. "However, we both can damage as if we were real! However, one of us is a fake! Beat the fake and he will disappear! Ready!"

'This… is bad,' Kratos thought to himself. One Lloyd moved behind the other, so only one could be seen. Then they both charged. One then flew way over head and attacked from above.

Kratos had an idea of which one was the fake though. Kratos knew that in a match of this intensity, you don't take stupid risks. He concentrated, and shouted "Thunder Blade!"

A large electric sword struck the Lloyd attacking from above and he just popped! The real Lloyd suddenly came up from behind. "Prepare for divine justice!" he shouted. "Falcon Crest!"

The magical energy slammed into Kratos. The battle was truly over then. Kratos was out cold and falling to the ground very quickly because his wings were disengaged. Lloyd caught the fallen swordsman and made his way back to earth.

Kratos slowly regained consciousness. "You win…" he said before passing out again.

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Thanksgiving

It was a busy day… for Kratos. Without a frown on his face, he went to the hard labour of cooking the turkey for that night. The day before, Lloyd found a HUGE turkey, and brought it home. Dirk said it could feed 15 people easily. So Kratos went to work on preparing it, stuffing it with Dirk's special stuffing, and the slow process of cooking it.

Lloyd and Sheena were snuggled up on the couch, with Noishe sitting at their feet. From Dirk's eye's they appeared to be enjoying each other's company. Lloyd had his hand on Sheena's belly, so he could feel the twins moving around inside. But when Dirk thought about the twins being born, he could imagine it. Two babies crying all night long. It almost made him want to retreat back to an underground cave that he used to live in before he found Lloyd and raised him.

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door. So on impulse, Dirk goes to answer the door. It was Colette. "Hey Dirk," she said.

"Aye, how are you Colette?" asked Dirk letting her in.

"Great. I can't wait for this to begin," the angel replied. "Sheena told me all about how Lloyd was able to beat Kratos in that bet."

"Yes. A great battle it was. And now Kratos is cooking the turkey as we speak," said Dirk.

"So where's Lloyd and Sheena?" asked Colette.

"They're in the family room, just resting before tonight's dinner."

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Kratos was indeed working hard on this turkey. He also used some of the special seasoning Martel made for whenever he, Yuan, Martel, and Mithos would cook a meat product.

He also heard Colette come in the door and she had gone off to see Lloyd, Sheena and Noishe. While he was cooking still, he heard someone knocking at the door. Dirk was preparing other things, so he went over to the door to see who it was.

It was Regal Bryant. "Ah, good to see you again Kratos," he said. "I received your invitation by Summon Spirit Class delivery."

Kratos even chuckled a bit. "When you think about it, the Summon Spirits have taken a lot of roles in the past 4,000 years. Providing power to the Great Tree, the mana links, and now a mailing service. Which spirit was it"

"Luna."

Once Regal came in, Dirk offered him a drink, which he accepted. "Kratos is cooking the turkey?" he asked.

"Yes he is," replied Dirk. "Kratos lost a bet to Lloyd and now he's cooking it."

"You should appreciate the fact that it's me cooking it," said Kratos. "This recipe hasn't been used for 4,000 years."

"Then it should be interesting," said Regal. He then went back outside to get something. He then returned with a large plate. "This is a Flanoir made cheese potatoes. Guaranteed to warm you up on a cold night. Made with a few twists of my own."

"So we're just waiting on the others to show up now," said Dirk.

"Yes," said Kratos. "Even with all of us, we won't be able to eat this turkey. Lloyd got quite a big one."

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"So Sheena, how are little Kratos and Martel doing?" asked Colette.

"Well one seems calm and subdued, the other is more active than Zelos when he has his hunnies around," Sheena replied.

"Knowing Zelos, he wouldn't know which hunny to pick!" said Lloyd.

"Or he'd just take them all," said Colette.

Lloyd and Sheena gasped for a second. It wasn't like Colette to say anything perverted about anyone.

"Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry," said Colette. Apologizing seemed to be her remedy for any problem she was or was not causing.

Sheena put an arm on her shoulder. "You don't need to apologize Colette. Especially if it's Zelos you're talking about."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

There was another knocking at the door. Lloyd got off the couch to answer the door. When he opened the door, four people were waiting outside. It was Raine, Zelos, Genis, and Presea.

"Guys! So glad you could come," said Lloyd.

"We got your invitation from the Summon Spirit Shadow," said Raine. "And we came as fast as we could."

"Yeah," said Genis. "I made some of my specialties for tonight."

"This appears to be fun," said Presea.

"So let's rock and roll all night!" said Zelos.

Lloyd let his four friends in the door. Raine popped a question to Lloyd. "So who's cooking?"

Lloyd tried his best to suppress the chuckle. "You won't believe it. Dad is cooking the turkey."

"You mean Kratos?" Zelos interjected.

"Yup. It's him! We had a bet, and he lost. So he's cooking it."

Kratos came up behind Lloyd. "Perhaps it was for the better that it is me cooking and not you. Knowing you, it would be blander than simple oatmeal."

This got everyone laughing except Lloyd.

While the evening carried on, they all shared stories about what was going on in their lives. But the one thing that dominated the evening were the two newborns that would soon be on their way.

"Wow, a little Lloyd and a little Sheena," said Genis. "That's so awesome!"

"Kratos and Martel are nice names," said Raine. "The names of two very important people who helped end the Kharlan war."

"Yeah Kratos, you should be proud that Lloyd and Sheena want to name their son after you."

"I guess so," replied Kratos. "And Martel I assume would like that the new hero Lloyd wants to name his child after her too."

Kratos then went to check on the turkey. Genis than came up with something. "Hey, did you know my sister and Zelos are going out?"

"Yeah we heard about it from Presea," said Sheena. "How do you do it Raine? How did you keep Zelos on a leash?"

"It was simple. I just offered Zelos a chance at a relationship and made him promise not to cheat. And so far, he's been doing well."

"He even let us burn his magazines," said Genis. "Though I don't understand why he wouldn't let us look at them."

"You'll understand some day," said Regal with a bit of disgust on his face.

Just then Kratos returned. "Dinner is ready."

And so the evening was full of turkey madness and everything else that was involved in the day. They remembered the legend behind this day, 8,000 years ago, where humans were fed up with the ruler of their land, and so they ventured out to find new lands. They had found new lands, but they didn't know how to live out in these new lands. But then they met the elves. And the elves taught them everything they needed to know to be able to survive out in the new lands. The humans were able to achieve an abundant harvest, and to show their thanks, they invited the elves over for a celebration.

It was a great evening. More stories were shared, laughs had. Jokes were cracked. And Lloyd once more, reclaimed his title from Sheena for being able to eat the most.

Then it came time to break the wishbone. So everyone let Genis and Presea do it. However, Presea pulled with so much force that Genis was sent flying over her head and crashed into the couch. This got everyone else laughing. And since Presea had most of the wishbone, or rather all of it, she got to make the wish. She wished everyone well in their coming endeavors. Once they had their fill, dessert was dished out to everyone, which was enjoyed greatly by all. Once everyone had their fill, Dirk let everyone spend the night, a night everyone would never forget.

A/N: And that's that. For all Canadians, I wish a happy Thanksgiving. And for anyone else in another country who reads this, I wish you all well! Be cool everyone!


	13. Trouble in Sybak

Okay! I'm back! I apologize for the LONG delay. I was low on ideas, and I had midterms too. It's time to continue the chronicles! On with it!

Lloyd was amazed at how much time had gone by. It had been now five months since Sheena had become pregnant. Sheena had gotten used to not wearing her ninja getup by now. The thing that worried her the most was that she would lose her figure once she gave birth to the twins that were growing inside her.

He was out on another adventure with Kratos as a part of the Father-Son Mercenary duo. Apparently, a horde of pirates had attacked Sybak, and he and his father were talking with the guards of the town.

"There was a bunch of them," one of the wounded guards said. "They came out of nowhere and began attacking. They broke into the lab, stole some stem cell equipment, and made off with it on their ship."

"Stem cells?" asked Lloyd who was always confused by science.

"They're body cells with no genetic information in them," said Kratos. "In the state stem cells are in, they can be manipulated to do other things that they were originally not set to do. The theft of stem cell equipment is definitely intriguing indeed."

"He is right," said the scientist. "With the use of the stem cell equipment, the cells could be modified to whatever the user wishes."

"What's the worst that could happen?" asked Lloyd.

"Obviously he could create monsters with the cells," replied Kratos. "We must remain cautious of this and find these pirates immediately."

"What did these pirates look like?" asked Lloyd.

The soldier spoke up. "Well they looked like your average pirates. But the leader was the one who obviously stood out the most amongst them."

"How so?" inquired Kratos.

"The leader had white angel wings."

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Dirk's House (More nearby, like in the woods)

Sheena decided to take a walk today. She figured she could use the exercise. Just because she was pregnant, should not mean she should be lazy for nine months. Once the twins were born, she wanted to make sure she would regain her original figure as soon as possible.

Lloyd and Kratos had gone out to Sybak to undertake some investigation. They had been gone all day and she had already missed Lloyd.

"Damn! I hate not being able to do anything!" she said aloud while she was walking. "I feel so helpless!" But she quickly remembered that Lloyd was doing what he was doing so everyone could live in a world that was peaceful for all.

"Yeah, I shouldn't be so selfish," she finally said. An idea came to her mind. "Hey! I could ask Origin to get me over to Sybak."

And with a summon, Origin appeared in front of her. "What do you wish Pactmaker?"

"Is Lloyd still in Sybak?" she asked the King of the Summon Spirits.

Origin concentrated for a moment, then gave his answer. "Yes. He is still in Sybak."

"Great! Thanks Origin. Could you take me there?"

"As you wish."

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Hidden Place

The pirates were cheering and having a celebration over the successful raid of Sybak. They were watched from afar by their captain. His face was hidden under a white and yellow mask; he also had a white robe with a green jacket. The robe hid his white angel wings.

"Perfect," he said. "Everything is going as planned."

Another man walked into the room. "Ah Captain Tajik sir. The subject in question has arrived in Sybak."

"I see," replied Tajik. "Now that we have the stem cells, all we need is his soul, and he will return once more and get revenge for the half-elves!"

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Sybak Outskirts

POOF! Sheena was now on the outskirts of Sybak after being transported there by Origin. Once she was there, she began to look for Lloyd and Kratos. While she was looking around for them, she ran into someone and got knocked over.

"Hey! Don't you know to be more careful around a pregnant woman?" she said in frustration. She looked at the person who knocked her over. It was Raine. "Raine? What are you doing out here?"

Raine got back on her feet and then helped Sheena to her feet. "I came here to get some learning materials for the others, and I gave a speech here yesterday. And Zelos, Genis, and Presea are at the hospital being treated for injuries in that pirate attack."

"They got hurt?" said Sheena with some shock.

"Yes. And my mana is exhausted so I can't heal them at the moment," replied the Professor.

"I came here because Lloyd and Kratos are here investigating the incident," said the summoner.

"They're here?"

"Yup. That's why I came. It's been just over half a day and I already miss him."

"Let's go find them then," said Raine.

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Sybak Academy Cafeteria

Lloyd and Kratos went to the cafeteria to have an early dinner before they headed back home.

"Boy the food here sure looks good," said Lloyd.

"Everything looks good to you," said Kratos. "Now tell me what you want and I'll order it."

"Let's see…"

"Hey Lloyd!"

Lloyd turned in the direction of who had called him. It only took a quick glance to know who had called him. It was Sheena again. She had come out all this way just to see him.

"Hey Sheena," he called back. "What brings you out here?"

"What do you think? I missed you," she replied giving him a hug. "So are we just in time to eat?"

"Yes you are?" said Lloyd. He then turned to Raine. "Say Professor, where's Zelos and the others?"

"They were hurt in the pirate attack," said Raine. "They're at the hospital. Poor Genis. He got hurt protecting Presea. She got hurt as well. Zelos went head to head with the captain of the crew and was beaten. The captain turned out to be an angel."

"I see," said Kratos. "I would have to check with Derris Kharlan and maybe one of the angels there knows which angel it was that led the attack. There may still be a few followers of Mithos out there."

Once everyone was finished eating, they went to the hospital to visit Genis, Zelos, and Presea.

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Sybak Hospital

Once Lloyd and company arrived at the hospital, Raine went to the woman who was the receptionist.

"Hi ma'am, can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"I'm here to visit someone," Raine replied. "Zelos Wilder, Tethe'alla's Chosen."

"Ah, you must be Raine Sage. He's been talking a lot about you. He's been saying because of you, he's a changed man. He's in Room 19."

"And where is Genis Sage and Presea Combatir?" she asked?

"They're both in Room 21."

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Room 21

Lloyd and Sheena saw Genis and Presea both sitting on neighbouring hospital bed. Genis had a cast on his left arm and cuts and bruises on his legs. Presea had a bandage wrapped around her head and her right leg on a sling.

"Hey Lloyd," said Genis. "As you can see, we got kinda beat up."

"I have been injured, but I will recover," said Presea.

"Well it's a good thing you're okay," said Lloyd.

"You guys are pretty brave to fight those pirates," said Sheena.

"We were merely outnumbered," said Presea. "We only had a 25 percent chance of success."

"Don't feel bad," said Lloyd. "You two are alive. That's all that matters."

"Yeah, you're right," replied Genis. "But I feel bad about not being able to stop them."

"Hey, you survived. You two just need some rest," said Sheena.

"But their captain, he was so powerful," said Presea. "His strategies were without flaw."

Genis spoke up. "He was either an elf or a half-elf, because he was able to use magic. And he had wings too, like the angels in Welgaia."

"The most disturbing thing he said though was that he said he would bring back someone who would cleanse the world of humans and elves," said Presea.

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Room 19

Zelos could probably consider himself a lucky man. He had gone head to head with the captain, who was wearing a mask. Zelos figured with his angelic power he could take down his adversary. But Zelos was caught off guard by the fact that the captain was an angel and that was his downfall.

The sound of someone coming into his room disturbed his thoughts. He looked over towards the door. It was Raine. The fact that she had come to see him made him feel a lot better mentally.

He noticed Raine shut the door behind her. Raine was not big on the idea of others knowing about her relationship with Zelos. He knew Raine would require some time before she became more comfortable.

"How are you feeling Zelos?" she asked the wounded Chosen.

"Better now that you're here," he replied. "Has your mana come back yet?"

"No it hasn't," said Raine. "Those pirates stole all the gels and I'll have to wait two days for more pineapple gels to arrive." Another thought hit her mind. "Oh Lloyd and Kratos are here too. They're investigating the incident. Apparently, the pirates stole some stem cell equipment."

"What would they want with that?" Zelos said aloud. "Doesn't make any sense."

"Don't stress your mind right now," she said. "You need some rest. Just two days and you, Genis, and Presea will be out of here." She walked up to his bed and gave him a light kiss. "Sleep tight," she said as she left the room.

A/N: Everyone, you have my deepest apologies for this taking so long. I was low on ideas, and I had midterms to prepare for. But the midterms have passed, and I'm back on course. Someone suggested I throw some trouble into the mix, and here we are. An enemy known by the name of Tajik. Who is he? Until 14, be cool!


	14. Battle at the Giant Tree

A/N: Well, time to continue the chronicles. As you likely know, there will be a confrontation with this guy I have called Tajik. I have decided I will make some changes to the characters. No, I will not change the way they look/dress, just alter their weapons a little and how they use those weapons. Enough of my rambling! On with the story!

It had been five days since the attack on Sybak. The supply of gels had come after three days, and Raine was able to heal Genis', Presea's, and Zelos' wounds with the use of the Unicorn Horn that she had. She was also able to heal anyone else who had suffered any fractures in the attack.

Lloyd, Sheena, and Kratos were at Derris Kharlan, conducting their investigation. Kratos was out and about, asking angels about the angel that had attacked Sybak. While Lloyd and his pregnant wife Sheena were looking around Welgaia, checking out the sights the angelic city had to offer.

"Who would honestly want to cause trouble for the half-elves?" asked Sheena. "Especially another half-elf."

"Yeah I know," replied Lloyd. "I figure everyone would hopefully want to undo the damage caused by Mithos, not pick up where he left off."

"But apparently, this angel has somehow rallied radical half-elves to his cause, and now he wants to wipe out all humans and elves," said Sheena.

"Whoever he is, he's had to come from Welgaia, because this is where Cruxis Crystals were made, and that's what gives people the power of the angels," said Lloyd. "That's why Dad suggested we come here."

Just then Kratos came back, and the look on his face appeared to have bad news. "I have some bad news," the 4,000 year-old angel said.

"Why? What happened?" asked Lloyd.

"Someone has stolen all of Mithos' belongings," said Kratos. "And I suspect the same angel is involved."

"How so?" asked Lloyd.

"I remember Mithos had a very radical follower of his beliefs," replied Kratos. "I cannot remember who he was, for he spent a lot of time with Mithos alone. I guess Mithos had a plan for him, for I found a letter from Mithos to this angel. It said that if the angel was reading this letter, it meant the Age of Lifeless Beings had failed. And that this angel was to follow the secret plan they had discussed."

"And you suspect that this angel is carrying out Mithos' backup plan?" asked Sheena.

"That is exactly what I suspect," said Kratos.

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Tajik took a walk around his secret base. His base was staked out in the Flanoir region. It was cold indeed, but his followers did not mind, as they had the technology to have heating in the building.

To kill some time, he thought back of his successful raid of Sybak, and the theft of the stem cells. The guards of the city were easy pickings, but there were four individuals who had caught his eye though. One was a half-elf boy, who had obviously sided with those inferior beings. There was an older half-elf woman who could have been his brother or his mother. The third was a human child with pink hair, who could wield a heavy ax. And the fourth, and obviously the most daring, was Tethe'alla's Chosen of Mana. The Chosen had dared to challenge him directly, and he paid big time. And so, he had gotten the stem cells he needed.

To make his ultimate weapon a reality, he would need four things. And he already had two of the necessary components. As the letter said, he would require: stem cells, Martel's DNA, Mithos' Cruxis Crystal, and a body of thoughts. He had the stem cells, and he was told by Mithos that he was a body of thoughts. And he figured his own Cruxis Crystal would do just fine.

His second in command then came in. He knelt at his master's presence. "Lord Tajik, the troops are ready to go at your command," said the flunky.

"Good work, Nash," said Tajik. "Today, we shall acquire Martel's DNA. Have the troops ready to go to the Giant Kharlan Tree."

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Dirk's House

Lloyd, Sheena, and Kratos had just gotten back. Lloyd wanted to get something to eat, because he was always hungry, Sheena just wanted to rest, after all it's not easy constantly lugging around an unborn child. And Kratos was still contemplating who the attacker was.

"Hey Dad, don't spend the whole day thinking about it," said Lloyd. "Eat something! That always makes me feel better."

"No thanks Lloyd," replied Kratos. "Finding out who the angel is, is of extreme importance. This is another threat that could put the entire world in danger."

"In any case, make me something too," said Sheena. "No sense in worrying too much. I'm sure whoever the angel is, he'll make himself appear."

Suddenly, the whole group felt a presence. It was the presence of Origin. His voice could be heard through the sir. "Lloyd, you must head for the Giant Kharlan Tree immediately."

"Why?" asked Lloyd.

"There is an evil presence at the Tree. I sense it is extremely hostile."

Lloyd totally forgot about food and got ready. "Okay, then take me to the Giant Tree now!"

"Count me in as well," said Kratos.

"As you wish." And Origin transported the two warriors to the Giant Tree.

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Giant Tree

Tajik and his battalion had quickly arrived at the Tree. Tajik was in awe of the sight he saw before him.

"Wow, this Tree is magnificent. It would definitely take an act of Martel to make this tree as beautiful as it is," said the leader.

"Lord Tajik," said Nash. "We have our scientists ready to extract Martel's DNA from the tree."

"Then let's do it quickly," replied Tajik. Tajik had gotten his scientists from Sybak who were being oppressed by the humans at the Sybak Academy. "Martel's DNA is vital to our success."

"Lord Tajik, if I may. I have a question. May I speak about your tactics?" asked Nash.

"You may."

"Why did we need a battalion here? We don't need them at all."

Tajik laughed from beneath his mask. "It's for when they arrive. And one of them has something I need."

Suddenly, two figures appeared about 30 feet in front of Tajik. It was Lloyd and Kratos. "Ah, and he is already here," said Tajik. "Two birds with one stone."

"So you're the angel who attacked Sybak!" said Lloyd pointing a finger at Tajik. "Who are you? What are you trying to do with the stem cells you stole? And what are you doing with the Giant Tree?"

"Now why should I tell two inferior beings what I am scheming?" suggested the angel aloud.

'What's going on?' thought Kratos to himself. 'Why do I sense… Mithos?'

"Ah, so you are Lloyd and Kratos Aurion," said Tajik. "I guess you have the right to know before you die. Very well, you may call me Tajik. The new leader of the half-elves. As for the stem cells, what I plan to do is beyond your comprehension. And the tree, you don't need to worry about that. I only wish to acquire a portion of Martel's DNA."

"DNA?" said Lloyd.

"He's after the genetic information that makes up Martel by extracting from the tree," said Kratos.

"I see that one of you is on the ball," said Tajik. "But you will not interfere. Men! Attack! And bring Lloyd to me!"

Lloyd and Kratos readied their weapons as the men charged. Lloyd and Kratos were obviously more skilled, it's was just that they were badly outnumbered by the army that was swarming them.

Swords clashed with swords as the fight continued. Tajik and Nash watched this from afar. "This is interesting Nash," said Tajik. "Lloyd's will despite the odds helps rally everyone else around him, and washes away their fears. That's why anyone who fights with him is also bound to be powerful."

Kratos brought out his wings in hopes of enhancing his speed and power. He knew that whatever Tajik was up to, he had to be stopped. "Lloyd, hold off the guards as best as you can! I'm going after Tajik!"

Tajik, with his angel senses, also brought out his white wings. Nash watched as his master took to the sky against Kratos.

Tajik drew his sword as well. (He fights with one sword and no shield) "Let's go Kratos. After the way you betrayed Mithos' I'm going to enjoy avenging him."

The two angels clashed in the sky. It was amazing to watch how fast they were moving. Kratos would attack, block, parry, flip over and attack again. All the while, countering the attacks from Tajik.

'This is okay,' thought Tajik as he parried Kratos' attacks at lightning speed. 'But I think I can give him the shock of a lifetime.'

Kratos kept up his vicious assaults on Tajik. For a man only using one sword, he was good, but Tajik got lazy, and Kratos was ready to capitalize on that, as he slashed his face.

But no, Tajik was not harmed. Kratos only hit his mask. Kratos watched as the mask fell away. At the same time, Tajik pushed back his hood to reveal… a young blonde man.

"Mithos?"

"You wish," said Tajik. Who then suddenly attacked Kratos. Kratos managed to block, but Tajik then got behind him and hit him in the back of the head with the broad side of his sword.

Kratos fell… fell and hit the ground. Tajik seemed disappointed. "Well, for one being one of the Four Seraphim, you sure didn't put up much of a fight. The same can't really be said for Lloyd either."

Kratos, who was still dazed from the last attack, looked over where Lloyd was. Lloyd had cuts all over the place. "Lloyd!" he shouted with fear in his voice.

"Perfect," said Tajik. "Nash! Bring Lloyd to me!"

Nash brought the unconscious Lloyd to Tajik. "What are you doing with Lloyd?" asked Kratos.

"He has something I want." Tajik brought out a small box. He opened it and raised his arm. "Now return, my master!" said Tajik. A white light then came out of Lloyd's Cruxis Crystal.

A/N: I figured Lloyd's Exsphere evolved into a Cruxis Crystal at the end of the game. Hence the name.

And that light was captured inside the box Tajik had brought out. "And now it's time I finished you off. And with just a little time, I will have the ultimate weapon in my grasp." He pointed his sword at Lloyd. "But you won't be around to see it."

Right as we went to attack Lloyd, a dark puddle appeared in front of him. It was Shadow, the Summon Spirit of Darkness.

"What the…" Tajik started to say.

"Crumble…"

Tajik was slammed by the dark energy from the Summon Spirit. But he quickly recovered. "Who did that?" He looked around. Not far away, he saw a woman, who had black hair, and was also pregnant. And she also had Volt, Celsius, and Gnome with her as well.

"And there's more where that came from!" said Sheena. "So I'd leave those two alone if I were you!"

'Damn!' said Tajik to himself. 'My army would be flattened in no time if they took on her Summon Spirits. Oh well, I almost have everything I need.' He turned to Nash. "Is the DNA extraction complete?"

"Yes it is my lord," replied Nash.

"Good, we'll let you go for now," he said to Sheena. "But the next time we meet, you won't be so lucky." And with that, his army took off for places unknown.

Sheena then came to Kratos and Lloyd's aid. "Oh my gosh! Lloyd!"

Kratos began to get up. "He's okay. I'll heal him." Kratos knelt down next to Lloyd, and whispered a few words. Lloyd's injuries slowly began to heal up.

Once he was healed, Lloyd slowly made his way to his feet. "Sheena? What are you doing here?"

Sheena quickly grabbed Lloyd and wrapped her arms around him, and buried her head into his chest.

Lloyd could tell she was crying, and he understood why. It was a scary moment out there, and he had almost died if it wasn't for Sheena's intervention. He stroked her hair and caressed her back in order to soothe her frightened state of mind.

Kratos was pondering the state of events that was happening. And then he realized what was coming to pass.

'Oh my goddess!' he said to himself. 'It can't be…'

A/N: Can't be what? What does Kratos know? What is Tajik planning to do? The third part of this saga will reveal the truth behind who Tajik really is.

As for those asking when Sheena will give birth, let's just say you will know when that happens. And oh boy, it'll be a hoot when she does give birth to twins.

Until 15, be cool!


	15. Lloyd vs Tajik

A/N: Okay, the mystery behind Tajik is soon to be revealed. I won't say anymore! On with it!

"What is it Dad?" asked Lloyd. Lloyd was shocked at his father's sudden realization of something.

"That angel… Tajik is Mithos' reincarnation," said Kratos finally.

"That's bad isn't it?" asked Sheena.

"Yes it is bad indeed," said Kratos. "I now know what Tajik is trying to do. With everything he is acquiring, it's possible to create another Mithos."

"Another Mithos?" said Lloyd and Sheena in unison.

"I didn't think it was possible, but I now know it is," replied Kratos. He brought out his wings. I'm going somewhere for a while. I'll handle this alone. You two continue the search for Tajik."

"Got it," said Lloyd.

Kratos then looked at Sheena. "Sheena, because of your current state, please stay out of any fighting that may happen. I'm sure Lloyd can handle himself."

"Yes Kratos," said Sheena with some disappointment.

"I'll see you two later. And BE careful." And with that, Kratos took off into the sky for the unknown.

After Kratos took off, Lloyd and Sheena headed back home for some rest and rehabilitation.

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Tajik's Base

Tajik was excited. Soon, his creation would finally be finished. What they needed to do now was create a Cruxis Crystal and incorporate it with the white light he took from Lloyd's Cruxis Crystal.

Also, now that he had Martel's DNA, he could use the stem cells he stole from Sybak, to alter Martel's DNA into the genetic information he needed.

He decided to make a checkup on things. "Nash! How are the troops doing?"

"They're ready to go Sir," came the reply. "And Martel's DNA has been completely altered too."

"Excellent work," said Tajik. "Soon everything will be almost ready for the takeover. We will have everything we need soon. Our ultimate weapon, and once we take Meltokio; we will have political power over all of Tethe'alla!"

Nash wanted to make an inquiry. "Sir, if I may ask, what is your ultimate weapon?"

"I honestly don't know," replied Tajik. "I'm only doing as the letter told me to that was given to me. And whatever happens when I use the weapon happens."

'So you don't even know,' thought Nash. 'What if it ends up being something you can't control?'

Another soldier came in. "Lord Tajik. We have everything as you requested."

A smile was on Tajik's face. "Good, where is the hypodermic needle?"

The soldier produced it. "It's right here sir."

"Good work soldier," said Tajik taking the needle. "Return to your post." As the soldier left, Tajik then injected himself with the contents in the needle.

"So now you have the altered DNA in your body," said Nash.

"Yes, and while we were out getting this precious information, my craftsmen were constructing me a Cruxis Crystal." He produced another Cruxis Crystal. "And now, I will incorporate what I took from Lloyd and fuse it with this crystal. Now he had taken out the box and there was the white light that he had taken from Lloyd, and he merged it with the crystal.

It was a success. "YES!" shouted Tajik. "Now we have everything. Prepare to march on Meltokio at once. The Age of Half-Elves will occur once more!"

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Dirk's House

Lloyd and Sheena were resting up. They had been there for about two hours since the battle at the Great Tree. Sheena was making something for them both to eat. Lloyd was contemplating what may happen next.

"So do you think Tajik will show himself again?"

"Of course he will," said Sheena. "He's an egomaniac. It's his style. He'll show himself again and everyone will know it. And I have all the Summon Spirits watching their areas where they reside. If he shows up, they will let us know."

"Okay, now I'm sure he'll be back. And we will know it," said Lloyd.

"That's the spirit. And you'll take him down this time."

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Sylvarant Base

There had been reports of a man with auburn hair and blue wings outside who had been requesting to see the leader. The blue haired leader knew who it was instantly, and ordered his men to let him in. The man proceeded into the room where he met the army's leader.

"It's been a while Kratos."

"Indeed it has Yuan."

"I have heard about the new megalomaniac you have been dealing with," said Yuan. "Why have you come here anyway?"

Kratos began to speak. "Yuan, I need your help."

"Just say where the Renegades need to go, and they will go."

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Meltokio

It had happened so fast. Tajik's army had entered the city with the resistance against them being unable to stop them. The king knew this was an invasion of sorts, and realized he wouldn't be able to stop them. So he ordered an evacuation of the city.

Tajik was in the middle of the city, giving a speech to the half-elves that had gathered around.

"My fellow beings. The time has come for us to take what we have been entitled to for over 4,000 years. And nobody will stop us!"

This brought cheers from some people, while some other half-elves disagreed with his vision.

"Once we eliminate those who hate us, we can strive towards a new age. There will never be a mana shortage; there will never be anyone who hates us for our existence. We will have peace. We all have the power to stop the humans and elves. We just have to reach for it," he continued to say.

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Dirk's House

Once they had finished eating, Lloyd planned to take a quick nap before heading back out to search for Tajik.

He never got that chance. Suddenly, Shadow, the Summon Spirit of Darkness showed up.

"What is it Shadow?" asked Sheena.

"Meltokio… trouble…"

"Oh no!" said Sheena. "Tajik has attacked Meltokio!"

"Then I'm off to Meltokio," said Lloyd. "Stay here and I'll be back." And with that, Lloyd left the house. But once he was outside, Sheena stopped him.

"Wait Lloyd, I'm going with you!" she said.

"Sorry Sheena," Lloyd replied. "I can't risk our unborn children in battle."

Sheena had a smile on her face. "You won't need to."

"What do you mean?" Lloyd was confused.

Sheena raised her hands to the sky. "Origin! Maxwell! Come forth!"

At her command, the Summon Spirit King, and the Summon Spirit of Molecules came forth. "What do you wish to ask of us Pactmaker?" asked Origin.

"I need your help," started Sheena. "Until Tajik is stopped… I need you to return my body to the way it used to be."

"I see," said Maxwell. "Lloyd will need all the help he can get."

"This will take a moment," said Origin.

Lloyd watched as Sheena's body began to glow a bright light. Once the glow faded, Sheena no longer had the bulge she used to have while she was carrying the baby. And she was back in her ninja garb as well.

"Thanks guys!" said Sheena with a smile. "So will my unborn children be fine."

"They are in a place where they will be safe," said Maxwell. "We will send you to Meltokio."

"Alright! Let's go!" said Lloyd. "The fate of the world is in our grasp!"

Instantly they were transported into Meltokio. They saw the soldiers of Tajik's army controlling the city.

Tajik saw them too. "How the hell did you get here?"

"None of your business!" said Lloyd. "What matters is that your selfish dream ends here!"

"A futile effort," said Tajik. "You couldn't stand against my army last time! What makes you think you can again?" He motioned to his army. "Alright troops! Kill them both!"

Lloyd and Sheena braced themselves for the coming onslaught of soldiers. Lloyd had his two swords out, Sheena had her cards out and were ready tofightwhen suddenly four of the soldiers went down.

"Huh? What was that?" said Lloyd out of shock.

Turning to look behind them, they saw a blonde girl with pink spectral wings wearing a white jacket. It was Colette!

"Hey Lloyd! Looks like I made it just in time." She caught the disks as they flew back. Colette was holding four chakrams instead of her usual two.

"Good to have you with us Colette!" said Sheena "Now let's get them!"

As the army attacked again, it took the three everything they had to hold their own in this never ending battle.

"Watch out Colette!" shouted Lloyd.

Colette looked behind her as she was about to be attacked from behind by two soldiers. Right as they were about to strike her, a large wave of energy came out of nowhere and blew away the soldiers.

Colette checked to see where the source of the attack came from. It was Regal, who had his hands out in front of him, forming a Mana Cannon.

"So this is the band of lunatics who are trying to take over the world," he said. Now he joined the battle.

"Glad to have you with us Regal," said Lloyd as he took down another of Tajik's soldiers.

"That's not all," said Regal as he punched out another one. "I brought help!"

"Yo Lloyd! I hope you weren't planning on hogging all the fun."

Lloyd turned to look behind him. It was Zelos, Genis, Presea, and Raine. Genis and Raine looked the same, except that Genis was holding a morning star instead of his kendama, and Raine had a magic spear instead of her staff.

"Oh, I suggested that Genis and Raine get some real weapons, because this was going to be an ugly battle," said Zelos, who had his Ether Sword ready.

"Great!" said Lloyd. "Let's get them everyone!"

And so the eight heroes continued the battle. If it wasn't for their past experiences in combat, they would have been overwhelmed. But they were holding their own just fine. Lloyd would slash anyone that came near him. Genis would use magic to strike down any enemies. And if they got too close, his morning star would make a nice impression on their heads. Presea's power was blowing the enemies away. Regal was proving that an unarmed man could be just as dangerous as an armed man. Raine was getting used to having a spear, as she could attack anyone that came close to her, and she could heal her fellow party members. Sheena was using all the ninja tricks at her disposal, which included her cards, kunais, and a short sword. Colette, with four chakrams could take down many more from a distance.Zelos' plain annoyance was also attracting the enemies.

Tajik watched this battle with fascination from on top of a roof in the noble's part of the city. "Amazing. So it took all of them just to beat Mithos," he said aloud. "I wonder how this will end."

Suddenly, Nash found him on top of a building. "Lord Tajik, we have some bad news!" he yelled.

"What is it? You're spoiling my fun here!"

"An army has been spotted outside the city and it's coming this way! It's the Renegades!"

"The Renegades! Damn!" said Tajik with frustration.

As Lloyd looked behind him, an army suddenly burst through the front of Meltokio. It was the Renegades, and they were led by Kratos and Yuan. And with their help, the heroes knew their chances of stopping Tajik cold were within their grasp.

So now it was two armies battling each other for superiority over the other. Nash figured he should get out of there before anything bad happened to him. As he was about to make his getaway he ran into Kratos.

"Going somewhere?" he asked Nash.

"If you know what's good for you, get out of my way!" said Nash. He drew a double bladed sword and pointed one end at Kratos.

"Fool," said Kratos as he drew Excalibur.

The two warriors then met in combat. Kratos was surprised at how good Nash was with a double-bladed weapon. He may even be as good as Yuan was as he was incredibly fast.

Kratos couldn't find an opening in Nash's defense. But he figured as long as he kept his guard up, he could continue to withstand Nash's assaults.

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Slowly but surely, Lloyd and friends, with the help of the Renegades, were slowly turning the tide of the battle.

"Lloyd!" yelled Yuan. "Find Tajik! We can't let him escape! If he does, he'll just make another army!"

"Got it!" said Lloyd and left the field to search Meltokio and find the bastard once and for all. He knew it himself that Tajik had to be found and taken down now. Since all of the fighting had been done down in the slums and mid area, Lloyd figured the best place to look was in the upper section.

He decided to jump rooftop to rooftop until he could find Tajik. Hopefully he hadn't gotten away. He searched the rooftops around the Coliseum, but had no luck in finding his antagonist.

Suddenly, his instincts told him to try the noble part of the city. As he continued to hop rooftops, he saw a figure waiting for him there. Tajik!

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Kratos' battle wasn't getting any better. Nash was indeed awesome. And Kratos knew he wouldn't get the time of day to try to use magic on his combatant.

They continued to clash and jump all over the place. Suddenly, Nash caught Kratos off guard, and as Kratos tried to raise his shield to defend himself, it was knocked out of his hand. Now he only had a sword.

"Give up Kratos!" said Nash. "You can't win."

"As they always say," said Kratos. "Like father like son. I will not surrender!" He then did the unthinkable. He revealed a hidden sheath on his right side, and drew the sword from it. It was the Last Fencer. Now Kratos had two swords. "Not very well recommended, but it will do the trick."

Now Kratos began a new attack on Nash. To Nash's shock, and Kratos' avail, the sudden change in strategy had worked to its needed effect. Nash could not put up with the intense onslaught from Kratos and Kratos broke his guard… and decapitated him.

"The rest is up to you Lloyd. You have to stop Tajik… and Mithos."

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"So, you've finally come," said Tajik.

"So what's going to happen?" asked Lloyd.

"To tell you the truth, I honestly do not know what will happen."

Lloyd was shocked at the lack of information his enemy had. "So the reincarnation knows nothing at all at about what he may do."

"It matters not," said Tajik. "Whatever happens, it will be good for the half-elves, I know that."

"And you think you can do away with the rest of the world as you please?" Lloyd shot back.

"What meaning does that have for you? You cannot comprehend what is about to happen," said Tajik, whose left hand began glowing a white light. "You are just… an INFERIOR BEING!" he shouted firing a Holy Lance at Lloyd.

Lloyd quickly brought out his wings and dodged the attack, as it slammed into a rooftop. While in flight, he drew the Material Blade and prepared for battle.

Tajik also brought out his white wings, drew his sword, and the two began battle on the rooftops.

A/N: The two are moving really fast!

Lloyd attacked, and pushed him off the roof top. Tajik recovered in midair, with a 360 flip. And then shot back with more vicious slashes than before. Lloyd then blocked those attacks, and then attacked again while constantly spinning in circles to make it look like a deadly wheel of blades.

Tajik jumped back and began making some movements with his free hand. Another Holy Lance shot out at Lloyd.

Lloyd jumped right at the attack and cut his way through. On the other side of the attack, was Tajik. And their clash ensued. The two warriors continued hopping rooftops, exchanging clashes of their swords.

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Elsewhere, the others had beaten Tajik's army. Colette noticed that Lloyd was fighting Tajik on the rooftops of Meltokio.

"We have to go help Lloyd," said Colette.

"Let him fight alone," said Kratos.

"But why?" asked Sheena. "He could get killed. You couldn't beat him."

"Tajik is Mithos' reincarnation," continued Kratos. "In another sense, he's like a cocoon."

"What?" said Genis with some shock. "Cocoon? He's like a bug?"

"So you're saying he'll turn into Mithos one day," said Regal.

"Yes."

"I wonder if Lloyd knows that," said Raine.

"Possibly," said Kratos.

"Let's let him fight alone then," said Sheena.

"Why?" asked Colette.

"Lloyd was the only one who could stand against Mithos' dark powers the last time we faced him. So it's up to Lloyd to defeat him again, and bring peace back to this world. Mithos or not, Lloyd will defeat him."

"Sheena's right," said Presea. "Lloyd will be just fine. He's never let us down before, and I know he won't now."

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Now they were fighting on top of Zelos' house. Tajik was attacking, spinning, and flipping all over the place, in an attempt to break Lloyd's twin blade defense.

Lloyd would block, and try to attack if Tajik didn't immediately bounce away. Tajik attacked again. Lloyd this time also jumped back and sent two Demon Fangs at Tajik.

Tajik saw the attacks coming and cut them both down. He was surprised that he couldn't break Lloyd's defense. So he decided to put all the power he had into one attack. He went airborne for one final attack.

Lloyd saw this coming and braced himself. He remembered what Kratos said about enemies attacking directly, that he would have to end it here, otherwise get cut down. So he waited… waited… and… "Beast!"

Right as Tajik was about to strike, the energy that Lloyd created slammed into him at full force, and it sent him flying.

When Lloyd caught up to Tajik, he was hanging from the edge of another building. Tajik had obviously dropped his sword from the impact that Lloyd had created, and his wings were also damaged too.

Suddenly, Tajik reached into his pocket and threw something into the air. It was a Cruxis Crystal! Suddenly Tajik jumped into the air and grabbed the crystal. While in midair, he ripped off his and equipped the new crystal.

"I'll show you…" he started. "My ultimate weapon," he said with his voice suddenly changing.

As he was falling, Lloyd had a bad sense of what was going to happen. Whatever it was, it was far from good. An aura began to be emitted from Tajik's body, and he appeared to be going under some transformation. So Lloyd, with his wings still out, jumped down after Tajik, hoping to end this before it got worse.

He got closer… closer… closer…

Tajik hit the ground and raised his hands.

Right as Lloyd's swords would have connected with Tajik, he heard a boom and his noticed his attack was stopped by a sword. He took a quick look at what had happened to Tajik. He was shocked at the sight he saw below him.

"It can't be…"

"It's been a while… Lloyd."


	16. Lloyd vs Mithos

A/N: I think anyone who read the last few lines of the last chapter should be able to figure out what is about to happen. And if you haven't, I can safely tell you know. Yes, the rematch between Lloyd and Mithos is about to commence! Who will win this battle of epic proportions? And as for Sheena giving birth, like I've said before, you'll know when that time comes. On with it!

Martel Yggdrasill stood just in front of the Giant Tree. She had been watching the world for over 4,000 years, not being able to do anything to stop her madman of a brother. Hopefully, he could have been finally laid to rest after 4,000 years of suffering. But now, as the latest events had shown, he would simply refuse to die, and would never stop pursuing his insane ideals.

"The only way Mithos will end his plans, is for someone to stop him. Lloyd Aurion, only you can stop him," said Martel. "I pray you can stop my brother." She knelt down and began to pray.

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Meltokio (Beware of psychotic blonde half-elf)

With one push, the blonde half-elf sent Lloyd back up into the air. Lloyd was shocked at how powerful one attack was. He quickly recovered and landed on top of a building. As he looked to his left, Mithos had already landed on the other side. His rainbow coloured wings were out too. He held a sword in his hand that was about the size of one of Lloyd's swords.

"Have you stopped the discrimination yet?" Mithos bluntly asked. Knowing he wouldn't get the answer from Lloyd which was obviously a no, he continued. "What a disappointment."

"Mithos? What do you want now?" inquired Lloyd.

Mithos figured he should at least give Lloyd an answer. He was too dumb to figure it out on his own. "Those who are discriminated against. I will free them once and for all." Judging from the look on Lloyd's face, Mithos knew he would have to elaborate and tell Lloyd his entire scheme. Being the adversary he was, he had a right to an answer however. "This is my desire. I will absorb the Giant Tree into my Cruxis Crystal. Then I will be a being of infinite mana for my kind."

Lloyd was shocked at what he was hearing. Mithos was now going to use the Giant Tree against the very planet it was meant to save.

"Then I will gather all the half-elves on Derris Kharlan. And use it to travel the universe like the elves did so long ago." Mithos paused briefly, and then continued. "As we travel the universe, we will find new lands to settle on and call our own. And we will rediscover the prosperity we had been deprived of for over 5,000 years."

Lloyd finally mustered up to ask Mithos a question. "And what will become of this world?"

Mithos smirked. "Who knows? It's all up to you…"

Suddenly, Mithos drew his sword and charged at Lloyd.

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Lower Meltokio

The others didn't know what was going on. They knew Lloyd was fighting Tajik when they last saw him. But they were up in Upper Meltokio. Colette could somehow sense what was going on, and it wasn't good. She had noticed the sky had turned black, as if it sensed there was trouble on the horizon, and it was only about a little after midday. Somehow, she sensed… Martel?

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The sky was dark, the city was empty. If one were to look carefully, even in the darkness, you could see two figures jumping around attacking each other.

Lloyd blocked Mithos' attack, and attempted a scissor cut. Mithos easily backpedaled and teleported behind Lloyd. Lloyd somehow knew Mithos was going to attack from behind and turned around accordingly.

It was amazing how good of a swordsman Mithos was. And he was so fast too. They could easily clash blades about four or five times a second. Lloyd jumped in the air and launched several Demon Fangs at Mithos.

Mithos jumped after him and slashed the shockwaves out of his way with a few swings of the blade. Now they clashed in midair, with their swords once more running amok. Once they landed, Mithos began making a few movements with his free hand and had a purple glow around him. Lloyd then noticed that he was surrounded by three electrical balls of energy. It was a Thunder Arrow! Almost a split second after Lloyd jumped out of the way, electrical energy pounded the area where he just was.

Mithos took advantage of Lloyd's maneuver. He never planned to hit Lloyd at all! Lloyd walked right into Mithos' Beast attack which slammed Lloyd into a building. As Lloyd was recovering from the attack, he noticed Mithos was already inside and ready to take him out. Lloyd quickly raised his swords and blocked Mithos' attack and hit him with a Beast attack of his own. Mithos quickly came back with an overhead cleave.

Once Lloyd blocked the attack, Mithos spoke again. "You're much stronger than last time. How do you do it?" he asked with a smug look on his face.

"I won't tell the likes of you!" shouted Lloyd and pushed Mithos back out the other side of the building. Lloyd then flew out after Mithos, who had recovered in midair and flown up into the sky. Mithos had landed on another building and was making more hand movements. This time the glow around him was red. Lloyd had landed on a lower building to see what his attack was. Suddenly, a fire like beam had shot out from Mithos' hand at Lloyd. A Spiral Flare. Lloyd used Guardian and blocked the attack. Mithos jumped into the sky again and Lloyd flew up after him.

They clashed blades again. Lloyd tried to hit Mithos with a constant barrage of slashes while spinning around to create a propeller effect. Mithos simply backed up, then attacked from above. Lloyd was forced to move back, and then was suddenly attacked by Mithos.

Lloyd blocked and used his swords to push Mithos back. Now that Lloyd had created some distance, Mithos once more began hand movements. This time, the purple and pink like glow around Mithos had angel feathers in it. "Here's a present for you Lloyd."

'Oh shit,' said Lloyd to himself. He knew what was coming. Judgment. Suddenly 13 pink beams rained down on the city. While Lloyd wasn't hit by the beams, he had to cut his way through the flying debris that came as a result of the explosions from the attack. Once Lloyd had completely recovered, he went back up into the sky where Mithos was now.

Mithos obviously would have to move twice as fast to be able to block both of Lloyd's swords with one sword. But he seemed to be able to be doing it just fine as the two continued to rise up.

They were fighting by the side of the Meltokio castle, and they continued to fly up as they fought. Suddenly Mithos caught Lloyd off guard and pushed him back down as he continued to go up.

Lloyd acting quickly drove his two swords into the side of the castle to keep himself from falling. As he looked up, he saw Mithos staring at him about 200 meters up the castle standing on a ledge.

"I want you to bow down and beg for my mercy."

"NEVER!" was the defiant reply from Lloyd.

In response to Lloyd's defiance, Mithos raised his free hand, and closed it into a fist. Suddenly, a very large piece of the castle came off, and it fell towards Lloyd and Mithos. Mithos looked at the chunk that was falling. He then took a slash at it. As a result the piece exploded into large pieces of debris which now rained down on Lloyd.

Lloyd wasn't afraid of this. He had overcome several obstacles before, and he would overcome this as well. Using his two swords as supports, he propelled himself upward with a back flip into the air, swords in hand. As he flew at the debris, he began swinging wildly, cutting the flying pieces of rock out of his way. After cutting through several pieces, he saw a huge piece in his way. He quickly launched two Demon Fangs at it. As the rock exploded, Mithos suddenly appeared behind it, sword ready to strike.

The two began fighting once more. This time within the falling debris from the Meltokio castle. Their swords clashing faster than ever. As the rocks fell, they would hop onto higher ones to continue their clash. Eventually, they had to jump onto another building. During the confusion Lloyd had jumped to a building out of Mithos' reach.

Lloyd was beginning to tire out from all of Mithos' attacks. It was like he was a god or something with how powerful his attacks were, and the magic he employed. His stamina seemed limitless. However, Mithos had found him again and was attacking him once more. Lloyd desperately parried the attacks, hoping to fend him off and get another chance to rest.

Mithos saw another hole in his guard and went for it. Using his sword to push Lloyd's up, he kicked Lloyd in the chest, and kicked him into a wall upon a building.

"Tell me Lloyd," said Mithos as he walked towards the weary warrior. "What do you value the most? Can I have the joy of taking that away from you?"

Lloyd found new strength somehow and made his way to his feet. "You're really pathetic Mithos. You know nothing of values."

Mithos ignored Lloyd and flew at him again. They continued to fight and Mithos jumped into the air. Lloyd followed him.

"I value EVERYTHING in this world," Lloyd yelled at Mithos. "And now you're going to finally answer for all the atrocities you've committed. Prepare for divine justice!"

As they continued to fly up, Lloyd's swords began to glow. They merged together to form the Eternal Sword. With it in hand, Lloyd began to twirl it above his head. The large purple blade began to glow even brighter in the darkness. Suddenly, the gems Lloyd and his friends had received from the Summon Spirits began to react. The ten gems floated into the air and surrounded Mithos. They then turned into large patches of mana, and were colour coded based on the element they represented.

Lloyd suddenly became a blur, and with incredible speed flew at the blue patch, the water element, and flew right through Mithos, body, sword, and all. Next through the purple patch, the lightning element, and slammed into Mithos again. After that, Lloyd went through the red patch of fire, and struck Mithos again. After that, he flew through the sky blue patch, which represented ice and hit the blonde half-elf again. Not even slightly lightening up this vicious assault, he pounded into Mithos again after flying through the green patch of wind and then the brown patch of earth. Lloyd then flew through the yellow patch of light, and hit him for the seventh time. Next was the black patch of darkness, which resulted in an eight consecutive strike. Then the turquoise patch, which represented Maxwell, the Summon Spirit of Molecules. And for the tenth time, was the platinum coloured patch which represented Origin, the King of the Summon Spirits. And he struck Mithos for the tenth time. Then Lloyd flew up above Mithos and prepared to bring the full power of the Eternal Sword down on Mithos.

"FALCON… CREST!"

The energy of the Eternal Sword struck Mithos directly. He tried to resist, but there was no chance. His body disintegrated, along with his Cruxis Crystal, thus permanently eliminating his existence.

Lloyd then calmly landed on a building. "Goodbye Mithos. May you finally rest in peace, and find understanding," he said before fatigue finally caught up to him.

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"Lloyd."

Who was that? Whoever it was, it had a woman's voice. And it sounded nice too.

"Lloyd."

There it was again. He tried to answer. "Hello."

"About time you woke up."

"Huh?" Lloyd now snapped to full consciousness. He looked around; he was still in Meltokio, on top of a building. Sheena was holding him in her arms. "Oh hey Sheena. If you and I are still here, then I beat Mithos right?"

"Of course you did silly!" said Sheena with some playful laughter. She then turned angry. "You stupid idiot! You almost got yourself killed! Twice! If you left me alone with two babies, I'd… never forgive you!" She was now crying into his chest.

Lloyd decided now would be a good time to console her. "Don't worry Sheena, I'm here. It will take more than Tajik or Mithos to take me away from the ones I love the most. Love is a powerful thing, and it gives people something to fight for."

Sheena had stopped crying and looked at him. "You were fighting for me?"

It was an easy question with an answer even Lloyd could give. He figured Sheena just wanted assurance that he was. "Of course I was fighting for you, and little Kratos and little Martel."

"Oh Lloyd…" Sheena overcome with emotion, wrapped her arms around Lloyd's neck and the two shared a lovely kiss.

A/N: And that's that! Whew! That took a while to do! I hope you all liked it. I got the idea for this fight from the Final Fantasy movie. I'll say right now I don't own them either. Until 16, be cool!

Epilogue:

Zelos was surveying the damage done to his house during the fight. Raine was standing next to him.

"Great. Now I don't have a house to live in," said Zelos with frustration. "I really should have insured this house when I had the chance!"

Raine decided to cheer the pervert up. "Zelos, you can stay with me and Genis until your house is rebuilt."

"Really? Wow! Thank you so much Raine! I'll make a good bedfellow for you. I'll even be gentle at first too."

Raine raised her hand and waved her finger. "No way are we sharing a bed just. I am not ready to end up like Sheena just yet. You get the couch."

Zelos just smirked. "Oh well, I guess I gotta cut my losses."


	17. Cookout!

A/N: Sorry I haven't been at this for a while. Coming up with ideas is hard to come by. And I've had exams to deal with too. Ah, the life of a university student. As for how many chapters left: take aim for about eight or more including this one. Yeah, that last chapter with Mithos was chaotic. But that brat is now gone for good. Unless some unknown force brings him back however. But anyway, it's time to continue the chronicles!

One month later after Mithos' defeat – Dirk's House in the morning

Sheena looked at herself in the mirror. She couldn't believe it was already six months along. Sometimes, she never thought she would be the type to have kids. But that incident with Lloyd happened when it did, and the path towards motherhood pretty much hit her in the face.

"Three more months and it will be time for you to make Lloyd's life a living hell," she said to her unborn twins. "Then he'll get his just desserts for making me a fatty," she then joked to herself.

Lloyd was getting ready for the picnic the group had planned today. All nine of them, were planning a cookout at Genis and Raine's house. "Hey Sheena!" he yelled up the stairs. "You ready to go?"

Sheena just came down the stairs. "Yeah I'm ready." And so the pair walked out the door and into the sunlight of the day. "I can't believe it's been six months already."

"I know," replied Lloyd. "It's still sinking in that I'm gonna be a father, twice over. And Dad will be a grandfather at 4,028 years old."

"I'll bet Kratos is still getting over that," figured Sheena. "I remember Dirk's reaction when he found out at first."

Lloyd thinks back six months. Back to when it happened prior to the fight with Mithos. Then the events that were set in motion not longer after. He then married Sheena a few months after they discovered she was pregnant. But they were already in love, so the unborn children only sped things up for them.

"Lloyd?"

"Huh? What?"

"Sorry," said Sheena. "You kind of just blanked out there. You alright?"

"I'm okay," replied Lloyd. "So let's get going before the food goes without us!"

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Sage Residence

Genis was worried about his sister. She had gotten up early in the morning, took off for the store, and once she came back, she had run into the bathroom and locked the door. "Sis. Is everything okay?"

"Just be quiet for a minute," came the reply from the bathroom.

Not satisfied with the answer he had, he went looking for Zelos. He found the redheaded ladies man outside working on heating up the grill. He had some simple clothes on, unlike the fancy clothes he usually wore, and had an apron on that said 'Kiss the Cook'. "Say Zelos, do you know what's wrong with Raine?"

Zelos seemed confused. "No, I don't know what's wrong. Best to just leave the Ultra Gorgeous Cool Beauty to whatever she's doing, and things will be fine." Genis still seemed concerned. And for once, Zelos pitied the half-elf boy. "Tell ya what. If she doesn't come out in about fifteen minutes, I'll go see what's wrong okay."

Genis brightened up a bit. "Okay. Thanks Zelos. You do have your good traits after all."

"See, even you figured it out eventually. Now do me a favour and bring those steaks out."

And with that, Genis quickly rushed inside, while Zelos mentally hit himself in the head. 'Oh shit.'

While Zelos was in the middle of his thought, Genis returned with the steaks. "Good boy Genis," he said. "Now watch, and I'll show you a trick I learned when I was just fourteen years old. It's so easy to learn, that even your sister SHOULD be able to do this." So far, the boy had been distracted from whatever Zelos was trying to distract him from.

Suddenly, Raine came back out of the house where Zelos and Genis were. She shot Zelos a wink that Genis didn't see though. "So how are things so far?" she asked.

"Pretty good," replied the Chosen. "I'm showing Genis a neat little trick with the grill here. So when are the others coming?"

"Well I'm sure Lloyd and Sheena will be here anytime. I know Colette will be here. I hope Presea's coming though. And Regal said if he could get away from his work again, he'd be here too," answered Genis. "Kratos said he would come too."

"Well, I all I figure we gotta do is wait for the others to come or eat this all myself," said Zelos."

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As the swordsman and ninja were making their way towards Iselia, they came across two people along their way. They were Presea and Regal. "Hey guys," called out Sheena. "Going to the cookout?"

"Yes we are," replied Presea. "We got the note from Genis."

"Indeed," said Regal. "The company was doing well enough that I could leave again."

"Then let's go!" shouted Lloyd. "To the cookout!"

On their way there, they shared some small talk. They talked a bit about the unborn twins, the battle against Tajik and Mithos.

"So how did you do that to Mithos anyway?" asked Regal. "To use the powers of the Summon Spirits to help you finish off Mithos?"

Lloyd thinks back to the battle. The part where he follows Mithos up into the sky preparing to deliver the final blow. He remembers materializing the Eternal Sword, twirling it above his head. Then the gems made themselves visible and surrounded Mithos. And he flew through them and used their energy to defeat Mithos. "Well, I figure the Eternal Sword makes the impossible possible, so I used the sword to call all the Summon Spirits to help me defeat him, and that just happened. Going through the mana patches was just natural instinct."

"I see," said Regal. "I guess that's just you. Acting completely on instinct."

Lloyd put a hand behind his head. "Yup. Just go where the wind takes you."

"That… is reckless," interjected Presea.

Sheena decided to back up Lloyd before he accidentally made a fool out of himself. "Well, I'm sure Mithos didn't think it was reckless. I'll bet he felt he was in the seventh ring of hell before he died!"

That got them all laughing for a while. Within about five more minutes, they reached Iselia. And at the entrance to the town, was Colette. "Hi everyone," she greeted.

"Hey Colette," said Lloyd. "Going to the cookout?"

"Uh huh," replied the blonde angel. "But I wanted to wait for you guys to show up first. It just wouldn't be fun without you guys."

"Great!" said Lloyd. "Let's all go! Before Zelos eats all the food!"

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"See how well they're turning out?" asked Zelos to Genis. He had just finished showing him a cooking technique. "It's so easy, even Raine could do this."

"I'm not sure," replied Genis, who was watching closely. "Raine can't even do laundry properly. Like when she bleached my favourite shirt during the journey."

"Let's hear that story," said Zelos. "Gotta make sure what to watch out for."

"Watch out for what?" asked Raine who had just come outside with a basket of laundry How ironic.

Zelos, being as smooth as he was, came up with something quick. "Watch out for when Lloyd and the others show up, which should be anytime."

"I see," said Raine. "How are the steaks coming along?"

"They look great, like me!" answered Zelos. "They'll be ready just about anytime now too!"

"Hey look!" interjected Genis. "There's Lloyd and the others now!"

Just up ahead, they saw the others coming along. There was Lloyd, Sheena, Colette, Presea, and Regal.

Once they arrived, Raine had Genis serve some drinks while Zelos and Lloyd tossed a Frisbee around.

"So how is everyone?" asked Raine as they sat down minus Genis who was now attending to the grill after serving the drinks and minus Zelos and Lloyd who were still tossing around the Frisbee.

"Well I'm bigger than ever obviously," started Sheena. "But only three months left, and it'll be Lloyd turn to have troubles with these two," she said patting her belly. "And I also had to make an extra order to Lezareno for more baby stuff for the other one."

"I see," replied Regal. "I'll make sure that's free of charge. See it as a thank you to you and Lloyd for helping me."

This made Sheena blush with embarrassment. Regal then continued, "The Lezareno Company has almost finished restoring Meltokio back to the way it used to be before Tajik and Mithos arrived."

"Hopefully Zelos' home will be fixed soon," said Raine. "So we can have a place to stay when we're too tired to return to Iselia from our work to make lives for half-elves better." She then turned to Presea. "How are things for you Presea?"

"I work as a lumberjack in Ozette now," the pink haired girl replied. "My skills are in very high demand. And I'm also learning how to become a blacksmith so I can make other tools as well."

"Wow Presea! That's awesome!" said Colette. "I'm doing really well in school right now. I was able to ace my last few tests, and I know it's because of Professor Sage's teaching."

"Well I'm glad someone enjoyed my lectures," replied Raine. "Unlike someone who kept falling asleep," she finished motioning towards Lloyd who was motioning for Zelos to go long for a long toss.

This got everyone laughing for a few moments. Genis then got their attention. "Steaks are ready!"

"Huh?" said Lloyd as he tossed the Frisbee. Due to the distraction from Genis, he threw it way too high.

"Heads up!" shouted Zelos as the disc flew way over his head and towards the others.

As the others flinched as the Frisbee came their way, a flash of light appeared in front of them. A man with auburn hair and a purple outfit could be seen holding the disc. It was Kratos who caught the disc. "Looks like I came just in time. I can see Lloyd didn't inherit my Frisbee skills."

"Nice catch Dad!" yelled Lloyd from about ten meters away. "You played Frisbee?"

"When I had spare time during the Kharlan War," he answered. "I was the best there was. But let's sit down and eat," he said, taking control of the situation like he always did during the World Regeneration Journey.

Once everyone was finished eating, they all decided to play Ultimate in the open space where Lloyd and Zelos were playing earlier. They were all interested except Sheena, who although couldn't play on account of the twins, she also just couldn't get enough of the steaks to even focus on the game.

They decided the teams would be Lloyd, Kratos, Genis, and Raine against Zelos, Regal, Colette, and Presea.

They played for the better of an hour. They all had fun though. Great throws here, amazing catches there. And Kratos really showed he was GOOD at Ultimate. But Zelos also showed why he was the best Ultimate player in all of Meltokio too.

And so after that hour, it was tied at nine apiece. And Zelos' team had the disc. Regal held the Frisbee in his hand.

For a moment, Kratos and Zelos crossed each other on the field and said a few words.

"You're going down Gramps," mocked Zelos.

"You'll wish you hadn't said that," retorted Kratos.

"We'll see," replied Zelos.

Everyone rushed around to get into a good position to catch the pass. Regal wanted to pass it to Zelos so he could make a quick pass to Presea or Colette and end the game. But Zelos had to get open first, and he couldn't shake off Lloyd. Kratos was covering Presea, Genis was covering Colette, and Raine was trying to block Regal's throw.

That's when Zelos got an idea. Suddenly, his gold spectral wings came to light. And he jumped into the air. "Feed me Regal!"

Right as Regal threw the Frisbee to Zelos, he noticed something was immediately wrong. Presea was no longer covered. She was wide open. Then it came to him. 'Oh no.'

Everyone just watched as Zelos caught the disc in mid-flight, a blur came out of nowhere and plowed into Zelos, making him do a full flip in the air before falling and landing on his back. It was Kratos! And he had the disc now. From midair, he threw the disc to a wide open Genis who caught the Frisbee in the end zone for the game winning point.

The reason Genis was so wide open was that everyone else was laughing so hard at Zelos' misfortune again. Once he got down, Kratos walked over to the fallen Zelos. "You see now? Don't say 'Gramps' again."

"Well that would make the highlight of the day," said Sheena who had just finished off the leftover steaks just in time to see the midair body check.

"Yeah," said Lloyd. "And all that playing made me hungry again." He noticed the remaining steaks were gone. "Hey Sheena. Where'd the steaks go?"

'Uh oh,' thought Sheena to herself. "Burp."

A/N: And there's that chapter. I'm so sorry again that this took so long. And I have the feeling it isn't that great either. But do not worry. I'm going to finish this fic. Also, I need some ideas to keep it going too. If you have any, I'm all ears, and eyes. If you don't have any, that's okay, but then I can't promise consistency with updating this. Until next time, be cool!


	18. Marketplace Chaos

A/N: Here we are. Back again. I'm sure you all enjoyed the last lighthearted chapter. Now it's time to continue the Chronicles!

Sheena flipped the page of the magazine she was reading. She was reading a magazine that offered advice to first time mothers. She figured this advice would be good for her since she was about seven months along and getting close to being ready to give birth. The thing that has shocked her was that a lot of this advice she was seeing was given by mothers who ranged from twenty five to even thirty years old. And she was what, just turned twenty three months ago? And Lloyd for that matter was just eighteen one month ago. But then again, Lloyd had the heart of someone who was thirty though.

She flipped over to another section. This section was on how to keep your romance with your husband/boyfriend fiery while balancing the fact your sexual appeal may go down due to the baby or babies. Knowing how well they got along, and how well he handled the situation to begin with, things were going to be just fine. The scary part to her was once the babies were born, and how many nights they would be up for the entirety of. When she really thought about it, the fact that she could possibly recover her figure didn't seem as exciting as it once was.

She looked over to where Lloyd and Kratos were. Those two were training once more. Seemed like Kratos had the upper hand in their little duel at the moment though.

"Lloyd, just because you're more powerful than me does not guarantee your victory. It's how you wield and control that power is what makes the difference in battle." Apparently Kratos had knocked Lloyd on his butt again. And her hero clad in red was not happy about it.

"He's right Lloyd," called Sheena from the sidelines. "There's a difference between being powerful and being smart!"

"Aw man you're all ganging up on me," complained Lloyd. "But I am the one who beat Mithos in Meltokio."

"And you're letting it get to your head," interjected Kratos. "When you fought Mithos then, you were likely at your best. Maybe defeating Mithos wasn't such a good idea after all."

"DAD!"

Kratos laughed. It seemed pretty rare for the man to laugh. "Relax son, I was just kidding. I'm sure everyone is more than grateful that you stopped Mithos and Tajik from unleashing whatever insane plan those two had intended." He offered Lloyd a hand to get back up.

"Lunch is ready!" called Dirk from across the yard. "Come get it before Noishe gets it!"

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Life was alright for Genis. But things were quite tense in Iselia at the moment though. There was an election just around the corner to elect a new mayor for the small village. While cities like Meltokio had monarchy governments, Iselia was one of the many democratic villages and towns around. They took mostly a utilitarian approach to most matters though. But the most exciting thing about this election was that many people managed to convince his sister Raine, who still taught at the schoolhouse, to run for mayor against the incumbent mayor whom many people were beginning to think was a bigheaded jackass. She received the endorsement of both Chosens, who both lived in Iselia. Unfortunately one of those Chosens lived under the same roof as he did.

When he really thought about it, he noticed that Zelos had not been his usual self or at least Genis' version of Zelos' usual self. Sure Zelos was arrogant and would flirt with every young female he came into contact with. But since he and Raine starting going out, he had been much more toned down than what he had used to be. He had even become something of a father figure to Genis. That scared the half-elf boy for a moment.

And now back to the current thought. And that would be how to woo Presea. He took out the book 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Romance' and began to read.

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Sometime after lunch – Iselia Marketplace

"Man this is BORING! Now I know why mostly women do the shopping." Lloyd was currently in the marketplace doing shopping for things that would be needed in the household. Sheena suggested that he should learn to do it, or deal with looking after the twins while she went shopping. Figuring he could learn to shop, he decided to do so. It even said in the Complete Idiot's Guide to being a Good Father (a book he and Kratos both borrowed from the Iselia Library) that a father should be willing to do some of the mother-done tasks such as shopping. Either that, or deal with a crying baby or in Lloyd's case deal with two crying babies.

Lloyd looked at his list, which was full of things he needed to get, and he looked at the crowded marketplace. "Oh man, this is gonna be a long one."

Sometime later…

"Come on Noishe, it's been a long day. Let's go home," said Lloyd who had just finished shopping. He was riding on Noishe's back from Iselia to home "Man those market ladies hit hard." Lloyd recalled the many times he was trying to fight with the many other people to get the products he needed. He had to have been walloped more than ten times or so. Well the sooner he got home, the better. He made a note to himself to ask Raine or Sheena the next chance he got on how to shop without getting whacked on the head. Not that the Professor did that enough as it was. He was rather surprised Raine didn't smack him to hell when she found out about Sheena's pregnancy. But then again, if it happened well before they fought Mithos, then there would be problems.

Before he knew it though, he saw his home in the distance. Perhaps removing the mind from the current state of reality made time pass by faster. But best of all, his family would be there to greet him and welcome him with open arms.

Indeed they were. Sheena was the first of course, greeting him with a hug and kiss. But as she pulled away, she saw the marks on his face. "Say Lloyd, what happened to you?"

"Shopping," said Lloyd with a frown. "Those market girls hit hard."

"Aww you poor thing," replied Sheena with a tone of sympathy in her voice. "Let's get you inside."

When Dirk heard the story, he was laughing like crazy. "Mwahahahaha! Reminds me of the time I went shopping for you Lloyd! They show no mercy I tell ye!" They were all sitting in the living room of the small house talking about their adventures at the markets.

"I can second that one," put in Kratos. "When Anna was pregnant with you Lloyd, I had to battle in the markets as well, since I didn't want to risk her getting hurt."

"Yeah, but it still hurts," muttered Lloyd who was now holding an ice pack to his head.

"I know it may hurt Lloyd," said Sheena who had her arms wrapped around him. "But I'm glad you did it for me." She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Actually, I'd be afraid for everyone else there if you went shopping," replied Lloyd with a grin on his face.

"How so?"

Lloyd began to chuckle. "If they ever saw you mad, they'd run for the hills."

"LLOYD!"

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Later that evening

Sheena was back reading that same magazine she was reading earlier. It really gave her something to do when there was nothing to do. She was sitting on her bed waiting for Lloyd to come up, as he was still downstairs doing who knows what. As she was reading, she came across this interesting article. As she continued reading it, her interest grew.

Lloyd then finally came up, clad in red pajamas. "Sorry about that Sheena, but Noishe wanted to be fed again. He eats almost as much as I do."

Sheena chuckled at the comment. "That's okay Lloyd. Come on, let's get snuggled in. Sleep just doesn't feel right without you."

Lloyd and Sheena quickly climb in under the covers. Lloyd presses himself against Sheena's back and wraps his arms underneath her belly. "Ah, that feels much better indeed."

Sheena, feeling comforted by the warmth he gave off, wanted to tell him about the idea she saw in the magazine. "Hey Lloyd, do I still look beautiful to you?"

"Huh?" Lloyd sounded confused and a tad startled by the question. "Sheena, you are beautiful. Make no mistake about it. You glow like the moon to me."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence then Lloyd," said Sheena. "Since you think I'm still beautiful, I can definitely win the contest."

"Contest?" Lloyd was now more confused than he was recently.

"Oh it's a contest I want to enter in," replied Sheena. "It's called Miss Symphonia, Expecting Mother's Version. It's for those who are pregnant, like I am of course."

"Wow," said Lloyd. "You definitely got a shot then. I say go for it."

"Thanks Lloyd." She turned around to kiss him goodnight, and went to sleep.

A/N: Wow! I'm glad I got this done. I had finished part of it a while ago, but could never get around to getting this done. But I'm glad I did. Next chapter: Miss Symphonia, except all the contestants are pregnant! Can Sheena win against a bunch of other expecting, yet sexy women? Find out next time. Until then, be cool!


	19. A Decent Proposal

A/N: Okay, this is my 8th attempt to get myself out of this hiatus! So far, I'm 0 for 7. Can I end the streak?

"Don't worry about it at all Your Majesty," said Zelos as he spoke to the King of Meltokio. "The whole thing kinda made me feel uncomfortable anyways."

"As you wish Chosen," replied the King. "I was hoping this pageant would bring in some extra revenue for the city. And now we have no choice but to reroute funds into cleaning up the mess instead."

"I got an idea. Why not make the people we arrested for this act of vandalism clean up the mess. It'll save us precious tax dollars too."

"Hmm, good idea Chosen. This way, taxes will not have to be raised, and I'll stop hearing things about me being addicted to taxes."

"Yup. And my girlfriend will have no grounds to rail me about alleged ogling of the contestants."

"Hahaha! Yes very true." The King then remembered something, "Oh yes Chosen, the package you requested is here." The King then produced a small package from his coat. "I've been keeping it safe for you. And as you requested, I did not inform anyone of this. I wish you good luck with your new life that you will soon start."

"Thanks Your Majesty." Zelos then bowed, "Well I'm off."

As Zelos walked through the streets after leaving the castle, he could immediately tell that things had changed a lot in the past seven and a half months. The discrimination against half-elves was definitely easing. He saw human children playing with half-elf children; he also saw some half-elves signing up to become recruits for the Meltokian army. He even saw a human man making out with a half-elf woman.

But best of all, he didn't have swarms upon swarms of girls swarming him, all trying to get their piece of Zelos Wilder. Ever since they learned he had a girlfriend, who was also a half-elf (This really helped the fight against the discrimination against half-elves, because if the Chosen could associate with half-elves, then everyone else could too).

Now that Zelos' thoughts were on Raine, he knew he would have to get home soon. If Zelos skipped his turn to cook dinner because of business in Meltokio, then Raine wouldn't want to pass up the chance to 'improve' her cooking skills. And as much as Genis was an annoying brat, he deserved better than to have to cheat death as a result of the older Sage's cooking. Quickly calling upon his angelic powers, he brought out his golden wings and flew off for the Sage residence.

'I sure hope I make it in time,' Zelos said to himself flying at top speed, 'or Seles will become the next Chosen come dawn.

In the distance, he saw it. Iselia, his destination. Would he make it in time? Touching down at the entrance to the village, he darted for Raine's house. Arriving at the house, he opened the door to smell… a wonderful aroma?

"Hello?" Zelos called into the house.

"Oh there you are Zelos," replied Raine who was sitting at the table with Genis, and to Zelos' surprise, Lloyd and his pregnant wife Sheena. "We were going to start without you."

"Guess I'm lucky then," said Zelos after giving Raine a kiss, "otherwise Lloyd and Sheena would eat everything. By the way, who cooked?"

"I did," replied Sheena raising her hand. "Raine wanted me to add a unique twist on dinner tonight, so I came over and helped make it."

"But that doesn't explain why Bud and you are here."

Raine took a sigh, "Since you were late, Genis took your turn instead. But, like last time, he made too much again. So we invited them down."

"Hey, that's not fair," shot back Genis. "If you made dinner, we'd all be dead!"

SMACK! One bump on Genis' head.

"Oh, and by the way, where's the grandfather-to-be?" Zelos inquired.

"Oh, he volunteered to go pick up more baby things for the gruesome twosome-to-be," answered Sheena. "So anyways," began Sheena changing the subject, "how goes the election campaign Raine?"

"It's great," replied Raine. "Everyone is being so helpful, and Colette is also helping out."

"I see," said Lloyd. "And how's she doing?"

"Too helpful at times." Everyone knew what that meant. Colette always put others before herself, even at the risk of her own well-being, as she had shown many times throughout the World Regeneration Journey. "She's being trying to ask EVERYONE, including the incumbent or rather incompetent mayor to vote for me. I've heard things about her going door-to-door late at night asking people to vote for me. I swear she's going to try using her rights as Chosen to get everyone to vote for me.

"Well that's Colette," chuckled Lloyd. "I'd expect no less."

"You mean that?" asked Sheena with a shocked look on her face.

"Uh, did I say something wrong?" Lloyd didn't get it.

"Obviously Lloyd," growled Genis. "I swear, you can be so…"

BONK! Two bumps on Genis' head.

"Anyways," Raine continued, "the debate is next week, and the election takes place a week after that, a day after Sheena will be into the eighth month."

"Then only two months until I give birth," declared Sheena. "I'll be free from these big eaters. These two eat like there's no tomorrow!"

"Just like Lloyd!" joked Zelos. "I think both of them are going to take after you! Better make sure they don't eat the bowl and the tables AND chairs Lloyd!"

"Well with a libido like yours Zelos," put in Genis, "you better keep your eyes on everything when you become a father, which I predict won't be very long from now."

SMACK! BONK! Two more bumps are now added to Genis' head for a total of four.

"I swear," muttered Zelos, "kid's too smart for his own good. His mouth'll get him killed one day."

Not long after, Lloyd and Sheena departed for home with some leftovers that Lloyd convinced Sheena to save for Dirk and Kratos… and Noishe.

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That Night - Sage's Residence

As hard as she tried, Raine Sage couldn't sleep. She found this very irritating, as she was hoping to give some speeches tomorrow. And there was no way she'd be able to do them feeling so sleepy.

As she had gotten out of bed to get herself some water, she passed by Genis' bed. He seemed content. Raine managed to muffle a laugh at the sight. He was snuggling with a doll that was arguably as big as he was.

"Presea… I love you…" he muttered in his sleep.

Raine ran a hand through his hair once and then went into the kitchen to get herself some water. Suddenly she had heard the sound of a door opening and shutting. Raine quickly checked the couch. Apparently, Zelos wasn't there, so that must've been him that went outside.

So taking a peek outside in her silver coloured pajamas, she noticed Zelos clad in bright green pajamas holding his Ether Sword and Star Shield in hands. She watched him take a stance, and then began swinging his sword and moving all over the place.

As she watched him practice, she remembered something about Kratos telling Zelos that his moves were more of a performer than a warrior.

Raine had to admit at first, that she was secretly flattered by Zelos at first when he would comment on her looks, as she couldn't remember the last time anyone called her pretty, beautiful, or even sexy for that matter. His only drawback was that he tended to be annoying and perhaps a little perverted. But now, she loved being Zelos' 'Ultra Gorgeous Cool Beauty'.

As Tethe'alla's Chosen continued to practice, he happened to notice Raine watching him. Figuring it wouldn't be a bad moment to take a breather, he stopped and put his weapons down. "So, what brings the Ultra Gorgeous Cool Beauty out here?" he asked

"The noise you were making. You're lucky you didn't wake Genis up," Raine replied.

"Ah don't worry about him. Last I checked, he's off in Dreamland somewhere with Presea. And they were getting hot and heavy with each other too," Zelos chuckled.

"Oh please," sighed Raine putting a hand on her head. "Don't need to hear that at this time of night."

"True, true, so sorry," said Zelos giving a bow of apology. He motioned for her to follow him. As he sat down on the steps, so did she.

"So, things have come quite a long way huh?" he asked changing the subject.

"In terms of…"

"Oh many things," finished Zelos. "Since we put our feet in Mithos' rear, things have changed a lot. And for the better too. With the worlds joined together, new trade routes have opened up, people can see the whole world for what is really is, and both sides can learn to live together. And best of all, people are learning to get along too."

"Yes you are right." Raine seemed to enjoying herself. Zelos tended to be slightly arrogant and not always take things seriously, but there was no denying that he was indeed an intelligent person either. "And everyone individually has changed too. With our journey, everyone has matured and learned something new. I learned that I could accept myself as a half-elf, and be happy that I am a half-elf regardless of what anyone thinks. And you Zelos, have learned that there is much, much more to a woman than just a sexy body."

"I know that much. Hell, the work I had to do just to hook up with you. Whew! I don't think I ever want to do that twice," Zelos said. "But then again, I've never been happier this way. I found someone who loves me for me, not for my status or money."

"And I found someone who loves me for me," repeated Raine, "regardless of my race."

The two leaned in and shared a lovely kiss. One of those kisses that make the reader go "Aww." (I hope)

After they broke off their lip lock, Zelos stood up off the stairs and faced Raine. "Raine, you've helped me change my life, and the views I've had on it. It had led me to have respect for all kinds of living things, more respect for myself, and more respect for the female genders of all humans, elves, and yes half-elves. Of all the people I've met," he said in his most noble tone, (he actually had a noble tone?) "there has never been another person I want to spend the rest of my life with." He then got down on one knee. He could hear Raine's breath forcibly leave her body. This gave him everything he needed. He produced a silver diamond. "Raine Sage, will you make me Genis' stepbrother… err will you marry me?"

'Oh Martel!' screamed Raine in her mind. 'This can't be true. I can't believe it!' This was everything she always wanted more than anything else. Something that everyone wants deep down: somebody to love, until the end of time or at least her lifespan of 500 to 1000 years, or rather, for Zelos' lifespan of 60 years. She knew if this were the case, Zelos could always ask Kratos as to how to use his angelic powers to stop or even slow his body's growth.

Raine stood up and took Zelos' hand. "Of course I'll marry you Zelos Wilder." In response, Zelos stood up and put the ring on her left ring finger. The two then embraced and kissed again.

'Heh heh,' thought Zelos to himself as he was kissing Raine, 'Now Genis will soon have to get used to calling me Brother!'

A/N: YES! I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! This hiatus is over! And with a bang too! Zelos and Raine are getting married! I know it's a small deviation away from Sheena, but I bet she wouldn't want the entire story to be entirely about her. Heck, she has to deal with her name being on the title. And I think she'd be glad to know that the Idiot Chosen is hooking up with someone else, which means he'll leave her alone. Or at least lay off on the crude sexual humour.

A/O/N: When I really thought about it, I wasn't big on the pageant idea, so this is my way of axing it, without distorting the story.

A/O/O/N: The way I see it; I foresee 5 chapters remaining at the least.

Until next time, be cool!


	20. Preparations

A/N: Sigh Let's see… where did I exactly leave off? Here's what the newly repaired thought generator does for me.

A/O/N: I know some of my facts are flawed, but I want to finish this anyway. I got a little plan to fix that problem anyways.

"Just one month left until this mayhem is over," Lloyd sighed as he strolled around the property with his wife.

"Sure Lloyd," Sheena replied with a hint of sarcasm. "One month until this mayhem is over, and then the next eighteen to twenty years of your life will be filled with double the trouble this has been."

"Hey that's not nice!" Lloyd shot back. "It's your issue too you know."

"Who knocked me up in the first place?" she fired back.

"Who seduced me?" Lloyd countered.

Sheena realized that this argument was going to go nowhere fast and neither of them was angry even to begin with. "So what are you going to do Lloyd?"

"Not much else to do today," said Lloyd. So I think I'll just do some training today. Otherwise Dad will banter on about how I shouldn't get lazy even in times of peace. He picked up his swords. "So you got any suggestions as to how I should train today?" he asked with his usual closed eyes smile.

Sheena was dumbstruck. Well this was Lloyd, who was not very intelligent. But he could still amaze someone with his intelligence… or his lack of it. But nonetheless she tried to think of something for her hubby to do. "Hey I know. I got a great idea. I'll be right back Lloyd." And with that she turned around and walked towards the house, humming a tune as she did.

'What could Sheena have in mind?' Lloyd wondered. Before he started his training, he proceeded to do some warm-up stretches. He remembered how Dirk used to tell him to do stretches before undergoing any sort of training or doing heavy manual labour. Lloyd kept this practice up even when he traveled with Kratos on the journey of regeneration. There was even one time where the group had to slow down for a week and a half because Lloyd sustained a minor groin pull and was unable to battle at his full potential.

As the red clad swordsman continued his stretches, he saw Sheena coming back with a some strange weapons in her hands. One looked like small knives which Zelos said were called 'kunai'. Another appeared to be some thin weapon in the shape of a four point star. Curious as to what his wife had in mind he inquired, "What do you have in mind Sheena?"

"You'll see," she answered. She pointed to a spot about ten metres away. "Stand over there and be on guard." Lloyd obediently paced over to where she told him to stand swords in hand ready to take on whatever Sheena was about to put him through.

"So… what are we doing?" Lloyd wondered.

"THINK FAST!" In an instant Lloyd saw what appeared to be a projectile flying straight at him. On impulse, Lloyd placed his swords in front of him in a desperate attempt to block whatever she just threw at him. He felt his offhand sword rattle briefly before he heard something hit the ground behind him.

Looking behind him about fifteen feet away, a throwing star was embedded partially in the earth. It came to him just then that Sheena had just thrown a ninja assassination weapon at him. "Hey… I didn't think I was that bad of a husband!" Lloyd stated sternly.

"This is your training," Sheena replied. "Since you don't have a shield like Zelos or Kratos, you'll have to rely on other means to protect yourself in combat. By using two swords, you have more attack potential, but you have less defensive potential."

"So this training is working on defense?"

"That's right Lloyd," Sheena said with a smile. "Wow you do catch on fast when training. Anyways, to defend yourself, you're gonna have to rely on your swords and your eye coordination. So I'm going to be throwing stuff at you. Train yourself to be able to knock away the weapons I throw or dodge them as best you can."

"Okay, bring it on!" Lloyd called out, assuming the best defensive stance he could against Sheena's distanced assault.

And for the next hour or so, Sheena would throw all sorts of weapons at Lloyd. Weapons that ranged from kunai knives, throwing stars and mana blasts. Lloyd would likely deflect the weapons thrown at him with either his forehand sword or his offhand sword in a motion that would either send the projectiles back towards Sheena or off to the sides. Other times when he doubted his coordination at the given time could deflect a weapon, he would dodge, duck, dip, dive and… oh what the hell, dodge.

A/N: Gotta love Dodgeball. Shame I don't own it or its quotes.

"Whew," panted Sheena putting a hand to her ever expanding belly. "These babies are saying it's time for a break." She made her way to a bench. "Say Lloyd, be a dear and get me a drink."

Not long after, Lloyd and Sheena treated themselves to some ice cold lemonade. On subject was their current training. "So was that sort of training something you did in Mizuho?" Lloyd wondered.

"Yeah, we were expected to be able to defend ourselves against enemies that sometimes would throw things at us," said Sheena. "It's rather part of our standard training."

"What did you use to defend yourself with? Swords?"

"Nope," she grinned. "Try blocking all those with just a ninja-ken instead."

"Ninja-ken?"

"Oh sorry, I meant the short sword I would use from time to time during our journey," Sheena restated. "In Mizuho we call that ninja-ken."

"So what other training do you do in Mizuho?" Lloyd asked, curious to learn about training.

"Hmm, what can I tell you that wouldn't expose the secrets," she sighed. "Hmm… well simply put, we do training similar to what you're used to. I can't specifically tell you anything, but basically our training involves training up close like those martial arts moves you've seen me do, with and without my ninja-ken. There are also the guardian arts and the kunai and throwing stars. Basically that's really all I can tell you."

"Maybe we should go to Mizuho someday," Lloyd figured. "Knowing all that stuff would be fun to learn."

"In that case I hope you're ready to dedicate many years of devoted training then," giggled Sheena. "Because you Lloyd Irving Aurion would have to train day in and day out. And it would be very different from what you're used to and you would be worked a lot harder than Kratos was pushing you back in the day."

"On second thought, I'll stick to Kratos Aurion 101," Lloyd conceded. He got up and picked his swords up. "Kratos working me like a dog is enough as it is." They could hear Noishe bark as if he was insulted by the remark.

"So much for that enthusiasm that you seem to lose so fast." She stood back up. "I guess you want to have another go with your training." She picked up her collection of projectiles. "But this time we'll do things a little differently. Instead of ten metres away, we'll work from nine metres away. Just don't get hit now Lloyd." She kissed him on the cheek. "If you get worried or nervous, just say stop and I'll stop throwing."

"Bring it on!" Lloyd walked away from Sheena the required distance and took his stance. "Pretend I'm Zelos or something."

"Then you may want to stand at least twenty meters back," Sheena retorted with a sharp glare. "I may be eight months pregnant, but I can still really throw them as if I never had a baby bump." She took her stance. "So you may want to take that back."

"O-okay I take it back," Lloyd cowered. "I'm not Zelos. In fact, I can't be compared to someone as low as he is."

"You sure?" Sheena asked in a teasing manner. "Who got me pregnant might I ask?"

"Whatever. Start throwing already!" Lloyd readied himself. "Angry or not, I can handle anything."

And with that, Sheena resumed her attacks, throwing her various assortment of ninja weaponry at Lloyd. Since Sheena was slightly closer than she was previously, it was more difficult than it was before for Lloyd to be able to deflect or dodge Sheena's projectiles. Not being given the extra nanosecond he was just accustomed to having, Lloyd probably felt like he was Zelos right now with the way his pregnant wife was throwing those weapons.

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Iselia Forest

It was a wonderful day for Zelos Wilder. It was a nice day outside, Raine; his fiancée decided she was too tired with her mayoral campaign which was nearing its final stages. As such, she chose not to cook breakfast this morning. And even better, Genis was not being that pain in the ass brat he usually was. So all was good for Zelos indeed. Tethe'alla's Chosen was currently on his way to visit his good bud Lloyd and see how he and his wife we're doing. And to tell them that he and Raine planned on getting married in a few months after Sheena had given birth to the twins.

"Hmm, I wonder if Lloyd will be up for a rematch." Zelos thought aloud. "He had kind of an unfair advantage using the Eternal Sword during our last battle in the Meltokio Coliseum." Indeed Zelos had his Ether Blade and Star Shield with him just in case Lloyd was in the mood for a friendly duel. He saw that famous house built by Lloyd's adoptive father Dirk.

He heard some clashing sounds around the back of the house. Lloyd was probably training around the back of the house. So Zelos decided to make himself known to everyone and strolled around to the back of the house. On his way around, he saw Noishe running towards him barking happily to see Zelos.

"Yo Noishe, my best bud, how are ya?" Zelos asked as he petted the large protozoan. "Is Lloyd around back?" Noishe kept trying to jump up and tackle him to the ground. "Hey don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt Lloyd. He's got the Violent Demonic Banshee with him. He's got all the protection in the world. Hell even Mithos is scared of her." Once Noishe 'seemed' convinced that Zelos wasn't a threat, he tried to stop jumping on him. "So Lloyd's around back eh? I'll go see how my next best bud is doing."

As he rounded the corner to the backyard, a small object whizzed by his face and embedded itself into a nearby tree. "Yah, holy shit!" he yelled, getting the attention of the backyard's other occupants.

"Huh?" Lloyd turned around to look at whoever made the shriek behind him. It was no one other than their friend Zelos. And from the looks of things he almost had his face renovated by one of Sheena's stray throwing stars. "Oh hey Zelos, what brings you out here?"

"Well being a target for Sheena's temper wasn't part of the agenda," Zelos replied. "But I came to say hello and see how you guys were doing."

"Well Sheena and I were just training," Lloyd said. "She was teaching me defensive moves from projectile weapons." Lloyd pointed to the mess of kunai and throwing stars. "It's quite intense I tell you."

"I see." Something then came to Zelos. "Say, shouldn't Sheena be relaxing Lloyd? And you're making her train with you?"

"I'm fine you idiot," Sheena retorted. "A little exercise won't kill me. Though I can't say the same about you if you want to stand in the line of fire," she smirked as she held a few kunai ready to throw."

"Uh, no thanks. Leave the brave stuff to Lloyd," Zelos cowered. "Anyways, I got something for you two. He produced a piece of paper. My fiancée wanted me to bring these to you."

Sheena took the piece of paper from his hand and read aloud. "To Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Irving Aurion. As autumn leaves turn their brilliant hue. Two lovers will join and say I do. Zelos Wilder and Raine Sage will be joined together in a holy union on Gasperday, Lalune 17, 4001 at noon. This celebration will take place at the Iselia Schoolhouse. We ask that you be able to share in the joy of this great moment." Sheena was impressed at the design, as it was done in silver and gold hues with simple but interesting flower designs. "Who designed these invitations?"

"Oh that would be Genis and Colette. They got right into it, and they made invitations for everyone," Zelos answered. "I gotta go track down Regal and Presea after this."

"So this will be a few months after I give birth then," Sheena said. "That's quite good timing. I should have my figure back by then."

"Good. I want all girls looking sexy for the wedding," said Zelos. "Raine needs girls that can try to compare with her in the wedding picture."

"Well Zelos, we'll be sure to be there," Lloyd stated. "Congratulations again Zelos, and good luck dealing with Professor Sage."

"Thanks Lloyd. Anyways, can I talk with you around the front?" Sheena began to follow, but Zelos raised a hand to stop her. "Sorry, guy talk only." With a pout from Sheena, Lloyd and Zelos walked around front.

"So what did you want to talk about Zelos?" Lloyd inquired.

"Oh I just wanted to ask you about the baby shower for Sheena next month," Zelos replied. "So is she still in the dark about it?"

"Yes, she doesn't know about it yet. And I got all the gifts stashed with Regal. So we're ready whenever. I sent out the invitations as well. She won't see it coming. We got lots of time to get ready."

"I hope you realize next month isn't far around the corner Lloyd," Zelos reminded him.

"Hey I may not be the smartest guy around, but I'm not stupid," Lloyd shot back. "I know it's the 24th today for example!"

"Ahem… it's the 26th Lloyd."

"Grr… you done yet?" Lloyd growled.

"Let's see… there was something I wanted to ask you." Zelos thought for a moment before he remembered what he wanted. "Oh right, I wanted to ask you for a friendly duel. You know a rematch from our battle in Meltokio."

"A rematch? All right, that's a lot more like it!" Lloyd eagerly unsheathed his swords. "I've been eager for a battle since Dad left for Derris Kharlan for a while."

"Ah, so without the old man you're gonna be out of shape! Hopefully I won't beat ya down too bad!" Zelos taunted with his sword and shield in hand. "You want to back out while you got the chance?"

"No way!" declared Lloyd. "I never back down!" He took a battle stance with his forehand holding his sword close to his head, the point facing Zelos and his offhand holding the other sword across off to his right with the point facing away from the redhead.

Sheena wanted to listen to whatever Lloyd and Zelos were saying, and she knew some techniques that would enable her to listen to whatever those two men were saying, but in the best interests of everyone she decided not to be a snoop. But then she heard what sounded like weapons clashing and she hurried around to the front to see Lloyd and Zelos locked in a duel.

Zelos parried Lloyd's swords by locking his swords then giving him a mighty push. But Lloyd came back with a spin that brought both swords raining down followed by a spin in the opposite direction that brought his swords back down once more. Zelos saw his chance when Lloyd's motions forced both his swords off to one side. But thinking quickly, Lloyd brought both swords back and used Zelos' sword to stop his swing in mid motion bringing both his weapons back in front of him.

"Not bad Lloyd," Zelos remarked. "You can attack…" He attacked with a few precise swings, forcing Lloyd to quickly block the single blade. "… But can you defend?" he asked as he made a few more moves.

"I sure can," replied Lloyd. "Watch this." He tossed his offhand sword up and caught it so he held it backwards. "Try to attack now… if you dare." He offered a Sheena trademark smirk.

And so their duel continued. Lloyd had surprised Zelos by showing an almost completely different dual sword style, by showing a more defensive side to the offensive style, effectively using his offhand weapon as a shield and a sword. Lloyd then advanced with both weapons. Zelos not to sure what to do, engaged in something of a lock with Lloyd's forehand sword against Zelos' shield and offhand sword against Zelos' other sword.

And there Zelos saw his advantage. Two swords still deviated from the way swords were meant to be used. Lloyd was holding his offhand backwards against Zelos' sword. It wouldn't be long before he naturally gave out. And his shield was well placed against the other sword. As such, he focused on Lloyd's offhand planning to leave Lloyd's chest wide open for a Zelos Wilder boot to the chest.

Right as he pushed on Lloyd's offhand, that side of Lloyd collapsed… or so Zelos thought. To the Chosen's surprise, Lloyd used Zelos' inertia to force Zelos forward as he quickly stepped to his (Lloyd's) right as Zelos moved right past him. To add insult to injury he had gotten behind Zelos and gave him a nice kick to the back, sending his friend crashing to the dirt.

As Zelos rolled over, he saw one of the Material Blades pointing directly at his face. He was done, and Lloyd had beaten him again. He could hear Sheena clapping in the background too. Lloyd offered a hand to Zelos, "You fought well Zelos, but that time with Genis and Professor Sage has made you soft."

"Excuse me Lloyd. But Genis doesn't make a good sparring partner," Zelos countered, accepting a hand up from Lloyd. "Kid can barely hold a sword without putting out a window or an eye." He shook Lloyd's hand. "But that was a great match indeed Lloyd. I guess I gotta do some more training if I want to keep up. And as much as I'd like you show you my true potential, I must be going now. My fiancée awaits the grace of the Great Zelos Wilder!" He brought out his golden wings. "And I bid you adieu." He flew off into the sky.

"So what did Zelos want?" Sheena asked after Zelos left.

"Oh just some guy talk," Lloyd replied. "Just guys talking about guy stuff. And then he wanted to challenge me to a friendly duel. And I won. He said something about not showing his full potential, but I think that was him trying to salvage what little was left of his ego."

"I saw. Great job utilizing your defensive tactics. You had him fooled." Sheena caressed his cheek. "And here's your prize." Lloyd was eager to take his prize, as Sheena embraced him in a long passionate kiss. Once she broke the kiss, she asked him, "Say want to go inside and get something to eat?"

"But we just ate before coming out though," exclaimed a surprised Lloyd. He was about to stand his ground, but the pout on his wife's face said it all. Lloyd sighed, "Alright let's get our post-lunch meal then. I swear, it's going to be you who eats us out of house and home." And with that, they went inside.

From a distance, another figure watched the pair interact with each other. He had been watching the entire duel and was impressed with what he saw.

"I'm impressed Lloyd. You actually bothered to practice while I was away."

A/N: I did it! Chapter 20 is complete! Next time, it'll be the baby shower… whenever I get to that.

Until next time, be cool!


End file.
